SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE. 


BY 

REV.    GREEN    P.    JACKSON, 

if 

Of  the   Tennessee  Conference, 


'  For  Jehovah  God  is  a  sun  ami  a  shield: 
Jehovah  will  give  grace  and  glory; 
Xo  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from 
them  that  walk  uprightly." 

— Pa.  Ixxxiv.  if. 


NASHVILLE,  TENN.;  DALLAS,  TEX.: 

PUBLISHING  HOUSE  OF  THE  M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

SMITH  &  LAMAR,  AGENTS. 

1904. 


C'oHVRii.irr,  1904, 

BY 

i  .HI  i  -.   I*.  JACKSON. 


To 

THE  TRAVELING  METHODIST  PREACHERS, 

THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  TENNESSEE  CONFERENCE, 

So  ABUNDANT  IN  LABORS  AND  SACRIFICES, 

THIS  VOLUME  Is  MOST  AFFECTIONATELY 

INSCRIBED. 


u 


Preface. 


WAS  it  not  said  by  some  great  sage 
That  life  is  an  unwritten  page? 
We  write  our  fate,  and  when  old  age 
Or  death  comes  on, 

We  drop  the  pen. 

From  good  or  ill,  from  day  to  day, 
Each  deed  we  do,  each  word  we  say, 
Makes  its  impress  on  the  clay, 
Which  molds  the  minds 
Of  other  men. 

And  all  our  acts  and  words  and  deeds 
Sown  o'er  the  past,  whence  future  deeds 
Spring  up  to  form  our  wheat  or  weeds  ; 
And  as  we've  sown, 

So  j^ap  we  then. 


Contents. 


PAGE 


Preface    v 

Introduction xi 

When  and  Where  Born i 

Earliest  Recollections 8 

Beginning  of  Responsibility 9 

Ancestry   10 

Parents  Cumberland  Presbyterians 16 

Old-Time  Sunday  Schools 16 

Camp  Meetings  18 

Christened  in  Infancy 22 

Converted  in  Childhood 22 

Implicit  Trust  in  God 22 

Great  Spiritual  Blessing 23 

Public  Profession 25 

Rebaptism    31 

Called   to   Preach 34 

First  Public  Prayer 37 

Licensed   Exhorter 38 

Licensed   Preacher    ^38 

School-Teacher 39 

Children  and  Hornets'   Nest 40 

Mathematical    Puzzle 41 

Entered   Conference  on  Trial 43 

Asbury   Circuit 46 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The  Civil  War 47 

Preachers  and  War 50 

Local  Preachers  in  the  Circuit 52 

Startling  Plunge 54 

Wrathy  Sinner  Dipped 57 

Successful  Negro  Meeting 60 

Conference  at  Athens 64 

Awful   Scare 69 

Montgomery  Circuit 71 

Sad  Scene  at  First  Appointment 72 

Strange  Religious  Trance 76 

Atrocious  Crime 81 

Practical   Joke 84 

Divine  Rebuke  for  Sacrilege 87 

Young  Preacher  Shot  by  Cupid 90 

Conference  at  Cornersville 91 

Ordained  a  Deacon  by  Bishop  Soule 93 

Centerville   Circuit 93 

New  Providence  Station 95 

Flight  from  Danger 96 

Gets  Shoes,  but  Loses  Hat 98 

Emancipation    Proclamation 101 

Hairbreadth  Escape   from  Death 102 

Conference  at  Tulip  Street 105 

Ordained  an  Elder  by  Bishop  Kavanaugh 106 

Springfield    Station 106 

Great   Revival 107 

Led  by  the  Holy  Spirit 108 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

Prayer  and  Secular  Blessings 1 1 1 

Conference  at   Huntsville 113 

Married  to  Miss  Mary  Price  O'Neal 114 

Montgomery   Circuit 114 

Twilight   Reverie 115 

Conference  at  Clarksville 1 18 

Lebanon    Station 119 

A  Doctor's  Dream  of  Death 120 

Conference  at  Shelbyville 122 

Trinity   Circuit 123 

Sun  in  Total  Eclipse 123 

Battle  with  Savage  Bulldog 124 

Conference   at   Murfreesboro 130 

W.  E.  Munsey,  D.D 130 

Trinity  and  Chestnut  Grove 131 

Extermination  of  Cats  and  Fleas 132 

Conference  at  Pulaski 134 

Rev.  R.  A.  Holland 134 

Pleasant  Valley  and  Olivet 134 

Old  Woman's  Reason  for  Shouting 135 

Conference  at  Lebanon 137 

Pleasant  Valley  and  Olivet 137 

Death  Summons  without  Warning 138 

Conference  at  McKendree 140 

Springfield    Station 140 

Conference  at  Franklin 140 

Fun  at  a  Serious  Time 141 

Springfield  Station 142 


x  CONTENTS. 

P\f,K 

Extempore  Speech  on  Decoration  Day 142 

Conference  at    (Jallatin 146 

Springfield   Station 147 

Woman's  Rights    Lecture 147 

Conference  at   Fayettevillc 158 

McMinnville  and    Manchester 158 

Remarkable    Conversions 158 

Suggestive   Baptism 1 59 

Conference  at  Columbia 160 

Culleoka  and  Hurricane 161 

Conference  at  Tulip  Street 161 

Fayetteville    Station 161 

Conference  at  Clarksville 162 

Fayetteville    Station 162 

Twenty-One  Schoolgirls  Converted 163 

Young  Man's  Death  Sealed  in  Church 164 

Conference  at  Murfreesboro 165 

Carthage   District 166 

Con  ference   at    Pulaski 166 

Carthage    I  )istrict 167 

Interviews    Uncle    Eph 167 

Conference  at  Lebanon 168 

Carthage   District 168 

Shrewd  Stripling  and  Sullen  Steer 168 

Conference  at  Franklin 170 

Alex   Green   Circuit 171 

An  Absurd  and  Ludicrous  Thing 171 

Conference  at  Shelby ville 173 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

Alex  Green  Circuit 173 

Conference  at  McKendree 173 

Olivet  and  Pleasant  Hill 1 74 

Assists  Pastor  at  Alex  Green  in  Revival 174 

Peculiar  Conversions 174 

A  Mysterious  Matter 176 

Conference  at  Columbia 178 

Sparta  Station 178 

Questionable  Speech, and. Queer  Lodge 179 

Conference  at  Clarksville 184 

Winchester   Station 184 

Conference   at   Gallatin 184 

Winchester  Station 184 

Conference  at   Fayetteville .  . . 185 

Winchester   Station 185 

Conference  at  Murfreesboro 185 

Springfield    Station 185 

Conference  at  Pulaski 186 

Shelbyville  District 186 

Drunken  Man  Converted 187 

Conference  at  West  End 190 

Shelbyville  District 190 

Conference  at  Tulip  Street 191 

Shelbyville   District 191 

Conference  at  Lebanon 191 

Shelbyville   District 191 

Conference  at  Franklin .  . .  192 

Murfreesboro   District 192 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Divine    Presentiment 192 

Conference  at  Winchester 196 

Murfreesboro  Station 196 

I  lappy  Conversion  of  a  Drummer 197 

Conference  at   McKendree 198 

Shelby ville   Station 199 

Conference  at  Shelby  ville 199 

Trinity  and  Love  Chapel 199 

Dissertation  on  Labor 199 

Conference  at  Clarksville 204 

Trinity  and  Love  Chapel 204 

Conference  at  Columbia 204 

Blakemore  Chapel 205 

Conference  at  McMinnville 205 

Blakemore   Chapel 205 

Conference   at    Pulaski 205 

Blakemore  Chapel 206 

Conference  at  Fayetteville 206 

Blakemore  Chapel 206 

Conference  at  Murfreesboro 207 

Granted  a  Supernumerary  Relation 207 

Brief  Reference  to  Previous  Life 207 


Introduction. 

WHEN  Green  P.  Jackson  entered  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference on  trial  for  membership  in  it  as  an  itinerant 
preacher,  he  adopted  the  plan  of  keeping  a  journal,  in 
which  he  made  a  brief  and  comprehensive  record  of 
the  most  important  incidents'  and  occurrences  which 
took  place  in  his  life.  He  did  this  simply  for  his  own 
interest  and  advantage;  and  he  also  thought  that  it 
perhaps  might  prove  to  be,  in  some  sort  and  measure, 
both  pleasant  and  profitable  to  his  friends,  if  perchance 
they  should  at  any  time  have  an  opportunity  of  honor- 
ing it  with  a  perusal.  And  so  he  took  particular  pains 
to  register  all  'his  texts,  the  places  where  he  preached, 
the  sermons  from  them,  the  audiences  which  heard 
them,  the  apparent  effect  which  the  discourses  pro- 
duced upon  them,  the  conditions  of  the  weather,  and 
other  surroundings.  He  made  a  minute  of  the  names 
of  all  the  people  whom  he  baptized  and  received  into 
the  Church,  joined  together  in  the  bonds  of  holy  wed- 
lock, preached  the  funerals  of  and  buried,  and  the 
names  of  the  infants  which  he  christened.  And  he 
did  not  fail  to  note  the  exact  time  when  these  things 
were  done.  But  unfortunately,  and  greatly  to  his  dis- 
comfort, he  lost  that  book,  and  never  recovered  it. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

He  had  been  keeping  it  for  several  years,  and  was 
utterly  unable  to  reproduce  its  contents  from  memory. 
And  so  be  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  scheme  alto- 
gether. This  has  been  a  matter  of  constant  regret  to 
him.  But  in  giving  up  the  journalistic  undertaking 
he  has  concluded  that  it  will  not  be  improper,  or  out 
of  order  in  the  least  degree,  for  him  to  write  out  a  brief 
account  of  the  most  prominent  and  impressive  events 
in  his  career  for  the  entertainment  a :ul  amusement  of 
his  friends  who  may  wish  to  follow  him  through  these 
somewhat  novel  and  sometimes  rather  striking  narn> 
tives. 

And  it  is  but  just  to  himself  to  state  that  he  does 
this  with  some  hesitancy  and  no  small  degree  o'f  em- 
barrassment to  himself;  and,  to  carry  out  the  project 
at  all,  he  will  be  obliged  to  rely  mainly  upon  the  mem 
orabilia  which,  fortunately,  he  has  faithfully  recorded 
from  his  youth  up  to  the  present  time  concerning  the 
most  notable  occurrences  in  his  life.  To  write  of  one's 
self  is  always  a  rather  difficult  and  delicate  task,  and 
such  is  obliged  to  be  the  case  for  good  reasons.  There 
are,  and  necessarily  must  IK,  many  things  which  con- 
stantly take  place  in  the  most  ordinary,  quiet,  and  prosy 
lives,  of  which  to  speak  would  be  highly  distasteful, 
improper,  and  imprudent ;  and  to  write  these  things 
down  deliberately  with  pen  and  ink,  thus  putting  them 
in  permanent  form  for  the  ready  gaze  and  easy  in- 
spection of  others,  could  only  be  painful  and  hurtful  to 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

all  parties  interested.  And  although  what  has  just 
been  said  is  literally  true,  yet  when  any  one  undertakes 
to  give  an  account  of  himself,  either  for  his  own  grati- 
fication or  the  benefit  of  others,  he  is  placed  under 
sacred  and  binding  obligations  to  deal  plainly,  candidly, 
honestly,  and  truthfully  in  the  whole  matter.  And  the 
report  made  by  him  ought  to  be  full  and  complete 
enough  to  take  in  both  fche  good  and  bad  of  his  life, 
so  as  to  enable  fche  reader  to  form  a  fair  and  correct 
estimate  of  his  real  character  and  true  worth. 

But  you  say  that  it  is  hard  for  any  one  to  see  his 
own  faults,  and  much  more  so  for  him  to  speak  cor- 
rectly of  them.  In  this  declaration  you  do  but  speak 
forth  words  of  soberness  and  truth.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  altogether  impossible, 
for  one,  do  the  best  he  can,  to  speak  or  write  in  becom- 
ing terms  about  his  worthiness  or  unworthiness.  It 
is  distasteful,  not  to  say  intolerable,  to  listen  .quietly 
to  one  as  he  proudly  parades  his  rare  virtues  and  ex- 
cellencies for  the  information  and  entertainment  of  his 
company.  And  on  the  other  hand,  it  can  by  no  means 
be  a  delightful  business  for  him  to  detract,  in  any 
measure,  from  his  goodness  of  disposition,  or  becloud 
his  brilliant  deeds  by  a  needless  reference  to  his  ig- 
noble spirit  and  mean  accomplishments. 

So  we  see  clearly  that  there  is  but  one  way  left  open 
to  any  one  in  such  a  case,  and  that  is  to  tell  the  simple 
story  of  his  life  in  as  easy  a  strain  and  natural  style 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

as  he  possibly  can  just  as  it  took  place  with  him,  neither 
suppressing  the  evils  thereof  nor  magnifying  the  good 
deeds  done.  And  with  this  praiseworthy  purpose  fully 
formed  in  the  mind,  and  with  the  laudable  desire  firmly 
fixed  in  the  heart  to  put  forth  the  narrative  so  as  to 
l>enefit  others  as  well  as  to  gratify  himself,  no  one  is 
found  so  well  qualified  and  fitted  to  write  of  the  i>er- 
formances  and  transactions  with  which  he  has  been 
connected  as  himself.  It  would  seem  that  one  should 
gladly  transcribe  everything  of  feeling,  thought,  word, 
or  work  in  his  life  if  he  might  thereby  become  instru- 
mental in  restraining  any  one  from  wickedness  and  in- 
spiring him  with  the  wish  and  determination  to  be  a 
worthier  citizen  and  make  himself  a  more  useful  mem- 
ber of  society. 

At  last  every  one's  life  is  a  checkered  scene  of 
good  and  evil.  The  good,  however,  largely  predomi- 
nates in  most  people.  But  the  evil  makes  itself  far 
more  prominent,  j>erceptible,  impressive,  ami  striking 
than  the  good.  It  requires  but  the  smallest  quantity 
of  mud  or  dirt,  when  dropped  into  a  glass  of  clean, 
clear  water,  to  pollute  and  tinge  every  bright,  sparkling 
drop  thereof.  And  so  one  feeble,  but  sinful,  impulse 
may  pervert  the  soul  from  the  path  of  safety,  and,  .f 
indulged  in,  will  quickly  rijK'n  into  an  overt  action 
which  must  abruptly  careen  the  course  of  life  in  the 
wrong  direction,  and  may  ultimately  result  in  its  com- 
plete wreck  and  ruin,  both  for  time  and  eternity. 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

Hence  the  eminent  importance  and  vital  necessity  of 
starting  right  and  sticking  to  it  to  the  end. 

And  that  we  may  be  on  the  safe  side  of  this  ques- 
tion, let  us,  even  at  the  risk  of  being  censured,  be 
charitable  enough  to  persistently  persuade  ourselves 
into  the  belief  and  hope  that  people  are  better  than  they 
seem  to  be.  Kind  and  generous  views  and  notions  of 
our  fellows  will  serve  to  deepen  and  strengthen  our 
confidence  in  the  trustworthiness  of  the  wonderful  race 
of  beings  to  which  we  belong,  and  this  must  prove  a 
blessing  to  ourselves  and  others.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  men  may  seriously  injure  themselves  without 
damaging  others  in  the  slightest  measure  whatever  by 
simply  indulging  and  cultivating  mean  and  low  opin- 
ions of  their  neighbors.  The  truth  is  that  this  is  one 
of  the  surest  and  shortest  of  all  the  routes  to  ruin  that 
any  human  being  can  select. 

Then,  taking  timely  warning,  we  should  be  on  our 
guard  lest  we  unwarily  and  unfortunately  fall  into 
this  dangerous  trap  which  the  wicked  one  has  set 
shrewdly  for  us.  A  good  motto  is  to  think  evil  of  no 
man  without  a  just  and  reasonable  cause.  Let  us  pro- 
nounce no  man  a  scoundrel  until  the  unwelcome  con- 
clusion has  been  forced  upon  our  minds  by  overwhelm- 
ing and  irresistible  proof.  And  even  then  we  may  keep 
the  unpleasant  knowledge  strictly  to  ourselves,  securely 
locked  up  fast  in  the  secret  chambers  of  our  own  bos- 
oms. Let  us  not  be  hasty  to  divulge  it  to  others,  for 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

the  chances  are  they  will  manage  to  find  it  out  soon 
enough  without  our  aid  in  its  publication.  Let  us  cau- 
tiously guard  our  own  innoeency  by  kindly  refraining 
from  speaking  disagreeable  and  hurtful  things  of  oth- 
ers to  any  one  else.  In  the  end  this  will  certainly  be  far 
letter  for  all  who  are  involved.  \Yc  should  remember 
that  it  is  a  grave  offense  even  against  the  guilty  to  dis- 
cuss their  foibles,  faults,  and  wicked  doings  in  their 
absence.  \Yhatever  we  may  have  to  say  that  is  unfa- 
vorable or  disparaging  to  friend  or  foe,  we  should  be 
thoughtful  and  honorable  enough  to  speak  it  out  in  his 
presence,  so  that  he  may  at  least  have  the  privilege  and 
opportunity  of  explaining  and  defending  himself  as  far 
as  he  may  be  able  and  necessity  require.  All  must  rec- 
ognize the  fact  that  this  is  the  only  fair  and  righteous 
way  of  conducting  the  matter.  And  such  a  course  is 
in  perfect  agreement  with  the  golden  rule  as  laid 
down  by  Jesus  himself:  "All  things  therefore  what- 
soever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so 
do  ye  also  unto  them  :  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  proph- 
ets." (Matt.  vii.  12.)  "That  is,  whatsoever,  as  a 
fair  and  just  man.  ye  would  have  from  others,  that  do 
to  others.  What  ye  would  feel  would  be  right  for  you 
in  their  place,  that  concede  ye  to  them  in  their  own 
place.  Make  their  case  your  own,  and  think  what  ye 
could  then  fairly  demand."  GREEK  P.  JACKSON. 

Nashville,  Term..  October  3.  1903. 


Sunshine  and  Shade  in  a  Happy 
Itinerant's  Life. 

GREEN  P.  JACKSON  was  born  on  the  twen- 
ty-seventh day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  forty.  But  he  does 
not  know  satisfactorily  the  exact  place  of  his  na- 
tivity. He  knows  with  certainty  only  that  he  was 
born  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Charlotte,  which 
is  the  capital  of  Dickson  County,  Tennessee.  The 
town  is  small;  but  it  is  inhabited  by  good  people, 
and  is  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  community. 

And  it  was  close  to  that  place  that  the  writer 
first  opened  his  eyes  on  the  beauties  of  this  world, 
and  began  to  breathe  the  vital  air  of  heaven.  It 
was  somewhere  right  close  to  it  that  he  commenced 
his  earthly  career.  And  he  has  many  sacred  and 
some  sad  remembrances  in  connection  with  his 
early  life,  which  was  spent  in  that  delightful  little 
town  and  its  surrounding  country. 

His  first  distinct  recollections  of  home  life  clus- 
ter with  unabating  fondness  and  tender  affection  to 
an  old-fashioned  house  consisting  of  two  large 


2  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

rooms  connected  by  an  open  hallway  or  passage 
between  them.  Now  this  antique  and  rather 
grotesque  edifice  was  constructed  of  big,  broad, 
flat  logs  which  had  been  felled  in  the  woods  of 
the  adjacent  forest  and  hewn  to  a  smooth  surface 
with  a  broadax.  The  corners  were  notched  and 
fitted  with  great  care  and  much  skill,  and  carried 
up  straight  and  true.  The  roof  was  supported 
by  rafters  made  of  small  poles  cut  from  the  thicket, 
cleanly  barked,  fastened  together  at  the  top  with 
pins  or  pegs,  so  as  to  form  the  bridge,  and  also 
fastened  at  the  bottom  to  the  plates  and  held 
together  by  the  purlin,  which  consisted  of  long, 
thin  slats  of  wood,  to  which  the  clapboards,  two 
and  a  half  or  three  feet  long,  riven  out  with  a 
frow,  were  fastened,  thus  forming  the  covering. 
The  floor  was  laid  of  plank  cut  with  a  ripsaw 
and  fastened  down  to  sleepers  made  of  suitable 
saplings,  dressed  on  one  side  with  an  adz  to  a  flat 
surface.  The  numerous  cracks  in  the  walls  were 
stopped  with  wooden  blocks  or  chinks,  and  then 
daubed  with  mud  and  mortar  and  afterwards  thor- 
oughly whitewashed  with  lime  and  water.  The 
particular  building  here  referred  to  was  one  story 
and  a  half  high,  with  heavy  stone  chimneys — one  at 
each  end  of  the  structure.  The  fireplaces,  as  they 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  3 

were  called,  would  be  looked  upon  as  real  curiosi- 
ties by  our  young  people  of  this  day,  for  their  di- 
mensions were  spacious.  They  were  truly  enor- 
mous, being  thus  endowed  with  ample  capacity  for 
holding  wood  and  fuel.  And  they  piled  it  on  and 
set  the  fire  to  burning.  The  bright  flames  flashed, 
the  red  heat  glowed,  and  warmth,  cheer,  and  com- 
fort flowed  out  and  filled  the  whole  room.  O  the 
real  beauty,  luxury,  and  bliss  of  an  old-style  fire- 
place! Who  that  has  seen  and  enjoyed  it  can  ever 
forget  it?  It  has  a  true  grandeur  about  it  which 
even  time  itself  can  hardly  efface  from  the  tablets  of 
memory.  The  hazy  wreaths  of  curling  smoke,  the 
kindling  coals,  the  rising  flames,  and  crimson  glare 
of  the  old  ingleside  of  the  happy  home  of  innocent 
childhood  linger  forever  with  precious,  hallowed 
influences  around  the  heart,  as  the  sweetest  memo- 
ries and  most  sacred  relics  of  faultless  life.  They 
are  the  lasting  symbols  of  the  deepest,  divinest, 
and  fullest  joys  of  home  and  its  blessed  associa- 
tions. To  think  of  them  is  to  call  from  the  silent 
realms  of  the  speechless  past  the  most  fascinating 
scenes  of  domestic  bliss  that  this  world  of  endless 
pleasures  and  ceaseless  cares  can  afford.  When 
they  appear  they  are  always  most  welcome  guests. 
They  bring  light  to  us  in  darkness  and  consolation 


4  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

in  sorrow.  Through  their  kindly  aid  we  are  en- 
abled again  to  live  over  the  delightful  days  of  our 
tender  and  sinless  childhood.  They  help  us  to  hear 
our  loving  mother  as  she  hums  the  old  songs  of 
the  long  ago  and  pours  the  soft,  sweet  music  of 
her  pure  soul  upon  the  busy  labors  of  her  toiling 
hands,  while  she  moves  softly  about  the  room, 
busily  looking  after  her  household  affairs.  Mention 
them,  and  our  noble  father  comes  back  to  view, 
and  for  the  moment  we  seem  to  see  him  smiling 
upon  us,  as  he  was  wont  to  do  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh,  when  he  used  to  press  us  warmly  to  his  con- 
fiding and  rejoicing  heart,  and  made  us  feel  that 
our  father  was  the  best  friend  we  had  on  earth. 

And  then  reflecting  upon  the  old  fireplace  builds 
up  again  complete  the  whole  family  circle.  The 
merry  glee,  the  mirthful  laughter,  and  the  jovial 
romp  of  the  children,  as  they  keep  playful  company 
with  each  other  in  the  presence  of  their  parents, 
chase  care  away  from  the  anxious  mind  and  fill  the 
dreary  wastes  of  memory  with  charming  ecstasies 
of  forgotten  joys.  And  around  that  weird  fireplace 
in  the  long  winter  nights,  when  the  cold  winds  were 
blowing  with  mournful  sounds  against  the  trem- 
bling doors  and  rattling  windows — there  they  sat  in 
breathless  silence  and  listened  with  mute  wonder 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  5 

to  the  long  ghost  stories  and  startling  Indian  war 
tales  which  entered  so  largely  into  the  social  enter- 
tainments peculiar  to  those  times. 

And  the  dear  old  house  of  which  the  writer  is 
speaking  stood  out  in  bold  relief  upon  a  splendid 
elevation.  It  was  placed  upon  a  beautiful  knoll,  or 
small  hill,  which  went  sloping  gently  and  gradually 
down  in  all  directions.  And  whichever  way  you 
looked,  your  eyes  rested  upon  the  most  entrancing 
scenery.  The  view  all  around  was  just  simply  mag- 
nificent. Nature  herself  seemed  to  be  at  her  best 
estate  and  in  her  happiest  mood  all  about  that  old 
country  residence.  The  sunlight  shone  with  glint- 
ing beams  upon  the  green,  grassy  plains,  danced 
with  trembling  splendor  upon  the  flowery  hills, 
and  smiled  with  vital  brilliancy  upon  the  waving 
woods,  growing  crops,  and  fruitful  fields. 

And  at  a  convenient  distance  the  spring  came 
gurgling  up  clear,  clean,  and  cold  from  its  invisible, 
secret,  subterranean  track  under  the  pretty  round 
hill,  which  seemed  always  keeping  sleepless  guard 
over  it,  and  ran  away  in  a  little  rippling,  laughing, 
singing  brooklet.  And  the  sparkling  water,  which 
was  good  for  drinking,  cooking,  and  washing,  was 
caught  in  an  old,  dingy,  worn,  moss-covered  spout 
that  was  made  out  of  a  straight,  suitable  sapling 


6  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

cut  from  the  grove,  split  open  in  the  middle  from 
end  to  end,  and  carefully  and  cunningly  hulled  out 
to  a  thin  trough,  through  which  the  refresh- 
ing stream  was  conveyed  in  a  direct,  unbroken 
line  into  the  red  cedar  bucket,  belted  with  bright, 
burnished,  shining  brass  hoops — a  vision  of  rare 
beauty  and  a  delight  forever. 

What  fine  water  that  was!  I  have  drunk  from 
some  famous  fountains  in  my  day;  but  I  have  never 
anywhere  nor  at  any  time  tasted  water  that  was  su- 
perior to  the  pearly  drops  which  came  bubbling 
from  the  rocky  mouth  of  that  old  spring  that  broke 
from  the  foot  of  the  yellow  sandstone  hill.  As  a 
beverage  for  thirsty  mortals  it  was  far  better,  more 
necessary  and  vitalizing,  than  the  intoxicating 
draughts  of  that  divine  nectar  of  the  gods  of  which 
we  read  so  much  in  classic  story  and  song. 

And  the  hill  out  of  which  that  delightful  spring 
came  was  itself  a  thing  of  imposing  beauty.  It 
was  a  fine  monumental  mound,  clad  in  robes  of  the 
richest  green  grass  and  adorned  with  the  brightest 
and  sweetest  of  all  flowers.  The  wild  strawberries, 
dewberries,  and  blackberries  which  grew  in  great 
abundance  upon  it  seemed  far  more  delicious  than 
all  the  other  berries,  scattered  over  the  face  of  the 
earth. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  7 

And  then  the  precious  little  branch  which  ran 
from  the  spring  was  a  source  of  endless  amuse- 
ment and  pleasure  to  the  children  of  that  region. 
They  played  and  romped  all  along  up  and  down  its 
verdant  banks,  and  plucked  the  broad,  bright 
leaves  of  the  May  apple  and  papaw  bushes,  and 
made  hats  and  bonnets,  and  decorated  them  with 
gay  flowers.  The  memory  of  those  happy,  halcyon 
days  of  innocent  childhood  ever  lingers  in  undying 
fondness  about  the  heart  like  the  lovely  charm  of  a 
divine  dream  whose  bliss  fades  not  away.  And 
they  waded  in  the  branch,  gathered  up  the  curious 
little  periwinkles,  and  caught  the  cute,  ambling 
crawfish.  This  was  racy  sport.  And  they  enjoyed 
it  as  children  alone  can  enjoy  such  diversions. 

The  soil  of  the  farming  lands  in  that  section  of 
the  country  was  not  of  the  richest  and  most  fertile 
character;  but  still,  with  proper  preparation  and 
culture,  it  was  fairly  productive.  And  when  thus 
treated  it  did  not  often  fail  to  return  a  fair  remu- 
neration for  honest  toil.  The  husbandman  who  be- 
stowed upon  it  the  necessary  attention  and  labor 
was  generally  amply  rewarded  for  his  pains  and  the 
work  of  his  hands.  Any  one  with  industry  and 
economy,  having  good  management,  could,  under 
favorable  circumstances,  make  a  fair  competency 


S  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

for  himself  and  his  family.     And  for  several  years 
in  succession  his  father  did  it. 

He  was  living  at  this  place  when  the  famous 
March  snow  fell.  That  remarkable  snow  came 
in  the  first  part  of  the  month  of  March,  eighteen 
hundred  and  forty-three.  He  was  at  that  time 
only  about  three  years  of  age.  But  as  young  as  he 
was,  he  distinctly  remembers  the  circumstance. 
He  recollects  very  well  seeing  his  father  busily  en- 
gaged shoveling  out  a  pathway  through  the  snow 
to  the  smokehouse,  which  stood  some  distance 
from  the  building  in  which  the  family  lived.  That 
snow  was  very  deep,  and  it  lay  on  the  ground  for 
many  days.  The  top  of  it  was  covered  with  a  thick, 
slick  shield  of  ice  which  rendered  travel  surpassing- 
ly difficult  and  dangerous.  The  falling  of  that 
great  snow  and  its  long  continuance  upon  the 
ground  is  perhaps  the  first  thing  in  life  that  he  dis- 
tinctly and  intelligently  remembers.  But  from 
that  event  on  down  to  the  present  time  the  strik- 
ing and  impressive  occurrences  of  this  world  which 
have  entered  into  his  experience  and  come  under 
his  observation  have  fastened  themselves  on  his 
mind  in  such  a  way  that  they  have  remained  with 
him.  Ever  since  that  momentous  time  of  his  ex- 
istence he  has  been  able  to  call  up  at  will  the  im- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  9 

portant  facts  and  transactions  which  have  taken 
place,  so  as  to  reason  about  them  and  use  them 
profitably  in  practical  life.  And  he  has  often 
thought  that  his  responsibility  to  his  parents  and 
to  God  began  with  him  about  that  period  of  his  be- 
ing. Truly  that  was  a  very  early  and  tender  age 
for  one  to  become  conscious  of  obligations  to  obey 
his  parents,  and  to  form  a  definite  idea  of  any  kind 
of  worship  toward  God.  But  with  all  that,  the 
writer  feels  fully  satisfied  that  such  was  the  case 
with  himself.  He  would  not  affirm  with  dogmatic 
assurance  that  he  was  then  fully  accountable  for 
his  conduct,  but  he  does  claim  with  undoubting 
certainty  that  then  the  light  of  moral  obligation 
and  personal  responsibility  began  to  dawn  with 
ever  brightening  and  strengthening  beams  upon 
his  mind  and  heart.  Away  back  in  those  very  early 
days  of  his  life  he  began  to  recognize  a  difference 
between  right  and  wrong,  and  to  feel  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  obey  his  father  and  mother  and  to  pray 
unto  God.  Of  course  these  impressions  and  no- 
tions with  him  were  obliged  to  be  very  imperfect; 
but  they  were  the  sure  buddings  of  great  principles 
which  have  since  blossomed  out  into  undying  af- 
fection for  his  parents  and  profound  reverence  for, 
and  everlasting  devotion  to,  God. 


io  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

THE  writer  knows  but  little  about  his  ances- 
try. He  is  not  able  to  trace  out  the  rela- 
tionship of  his  family  on  either  side  of  the  house. 
He  regards  this  as  a  misfortune  to  be  deeply  re- 
gretted, and  submits  unwillingly  to  the  inevitable 
condition  of  things.  Often  he  feels  that  he  would 
gladly  know  more  concerning  the  progenitors  of 
his  father  and  mother.  But  being  utterly  unable 
to  do  this,  he  contents  himself  as  best  he  can  to  re- 
main in  hopeless  ignorance  about  the  matter. 

His  father  was  Green  Jackson,  who  was  born 
on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  December,  eight- 
een hundred  and  eight.  He  was  a  Tennesseean  by 
birth.  The  people  from  whom  he  sprang  were  a 
brave,  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  family  who  came  to 
this  country  at  an  early  day  from  Virginia.  His  ad- 
vantages were  good  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 
His  father  was  a  well-to-do  man,  in  easy,  comfort- 
able circumstances,  and  gave  his  children  a  good 
education.  There  were  several  sons  in  the  family 
and  only  one  daughter. 

Green  Jackson  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  he  fol- 
lowed that  vocation  awhile  for  a  livelihood;  but 
finally,  for  some  reason,  he  quit  it  and  turned  his 
attention  to  farming.  He  was  an  industrious,  hard- 
working man,  and  he  adopted  rules  of  the  strictest 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  1 1 

and  most  rigid  economy.  He  was  a  man  of  well- 
regulated  life.  In  all  his  habits  he  was  severely 
temperate.  He  was  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term 
a  teetotaler.  He  was  given  to  the  use  of  neither 
tobacco  nor  intoxicating  drinks.  And  he  was  not 
only  a  man  of  abstemious  life,  but  he  was  also  a 
man  of  great  firmness  and  decision  of  character. 
He  was  never  really  obstinate  or  stubborn  in  his 
nature,  but  he  was  of  an  unyielding  disposition 
until  he  became  fully  convinced  that  he  was  in  the 
wrong,  and  then  he  did  not  hesitate  to  submit  at 
once. 

No  man  ever  had  a  higher  or  grander  conception 
of  honesty,  truth,  and  justice  than  he  had.  If  ever 
any  mere  man  lived  fully  up  to  the  golden  rule, 
surely  he  did.  His  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond. 
He  failed  not  to  meet  his  obligations.  All  that  he 
had  on  the  earth  was  good  for  his  debts.  He 
claimed  nothing  until  whatever  he  owed  was  com- 
pletely liquidated.  He  never  forgot  a  promise, 
broke  a  pledge,  nor  trifled  with  his  word.  As  a 
friend,  he  was  liberal  and  generous;  as  a  husband, 
he  was  affectionate  and  faithful;  as  a  father,  he  was 
tender  and  indulgent;  as  a  citizen,  he  was  genuinely 
and  profoundly  patriotic.  He  dearly  loved  his 
country  and  gloried  in  her  prosperity.  In  politics 


1 2  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

he  was  a  thoroughgoing  Jeffersonian  Democrat. 
The  day  of  an  election  certainly  found  him  at  the 
polls-and  ready  to  vote,  and  he  always  put  into  the 
ballot  box  a  straight  party  ticket.  That  was  his 
established  custom.  And  he  was  careful  to  bring 
up  in  this  faith  all  his  sons. 

IN  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  the  writer's  father  was  married  to 
Miss  Huldah  Line  Paxton  Joslin.  Her  people  were 
ol  Welsh  or  English  extraction.  They  came  from 
South  Carolina  to  Tennessee  at  an  early  period  of 
its  existence  as  a  State.  The  union  between  his 
father  and  mother  proved  to  be  a  happy  one  to 
both  of  them.  She  was  not  only  a  suitable  com- 
panion to  him;  but  she  was  also  "a  help  meet 
for  him,"  assisting  him  in  the  labors  of  life,  shar- 
ing his  joys  and  sympathizing  with  him  in  his 
sorrows.  She  was  several  years  younger  than  he, 
having  been  born  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of 
January,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty. 
Her  paternal  grandfather  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
command  of  Gen.  Francis  Marion,  in  South  Caro- 
lina, during  the  revolutionary  war.  He  lived  to  be 
one  hundred  and  ten  years  of  age. 

His  mother  was  a  woman  of  strong  mind,  but 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  13 

rather  feeble  in  body.  She  had  been  brought  up 
in  ease  and  tenderness.  Her  father  was  a^success- 
ful  and  prosperous  farmer,  and  he  was  the  owner 
of  a  fine  little  farm  on  the  waters  of  Jones's  Creek, 
in  Dickson  County,  Tenn.  He  was  a  peaceable, 
quiet,  exemplary  citizen.  In  politics  he  was  a 
stanch,  uncompromising  Whig. 

As  intimated,  his  mother,  in  her  growing  up, 
was  shielded  from  all  hardships.  And  his  father, 
although  he  had  a  fair  competency  with  which" 
to  begin  his  married  life,  was  nevertheless  un- 
fortunate in  the  management  of  his  business  af- 
fairs, and  soon  lost  all  he  had  and  was  reduced  to 
poverty.  Thus  it  became  necessary  that  he  and  his 
young  wife  should  both  go  to  work  to  make  a  liv- 
ing for  their  growing  family.  And  that  is  just  what 
they  did.  There  was  no  hesitancy  upon  the  part 
of  either  of  them.  They  determined  at  once  to  re- 
sort to  hard  labor. 

While  his  father  cultivated  a  rented  farm,  his 
mother  learned  the  tailor's  trade  and  worked  at  it 
for  years.  And  by  making  a  constant  and  united 
effort  they  were  able  to  supply  the  wants  of  them- 
selves and  their  children.  They  reared  a  large 
family.  There  were  fifteen  children  born  unto 
them.  Ten  of  this  number  thev  succeeded  in  rear- 


14  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

ing  to  manhood  and  womanhood — eight  boys 
and  two  girls.  And  there  was  not  a  death  in  the 
household  until  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two, 
when  our  father  passed  away,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year. 
However,  his  death  was  the  result  of  an  accident. 
He  was  thrown  violently  from  the  back  of  a  vicious 
animal,  and  the  injuries  which  he  received  in  the 
terrible  fall  finally  brought  about  his  death.  He 
was  naturally  a  very  stout,  healthy  man,  and  bade 
fair  to  reach  a  good  old  age.  But  that  sad  and  un- 
fortunate occurrence  put  a  sudden  .and  very  unex- 
pected termination  to  his  earthly  labors.  His 
death  was  peaceful  and  triumphant. 

His  father  and  mother  succeeded  not  only  in 
rearing  and  educating  their  large  family  of  children, 
but  they  were  also  enabled  to  purchase  a  small 
tract  of  land,  which  they  improved  and  turned  into 
a  nice,  comfortable  home.  They  took  great  pride 
and  pleasure  in  decorating  and  adorning  it  with 
shrubbery,  fruits,  and  flowers.  They  were  getting 
along  well,  and  were  very  happy.  But  at  last  there 
came  a  gentleman  to  their  house  and  laid  claim  t<» 
the  land  upon  which  they  were  residing  in  ease  and 
contentment.  He  had  come  into  possession  of  an 
old  war  grant  to  it.  and  so  he  had  no  trouble  in  re- 
covering it  from  them.  Tt  was  a  dark  day  in  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  15 

history  of  him  and  his  family  on  which  he  lost  his 
land  and  was  turned  out  of  his  home,  and  they  felt 
then  as  if  no  greater  misfortune  could  have  over- 
taken them. 

He  went  back  to  renting  land  to  cultivate.  That 
is  a  hard  way  to  live.  But  he  accepted  the  situa- 
tion, because  he  could  do  nothing  else  just  then. 
Though  he  had  lost  his  land,  he  still  had  his  stock 
and  was  able  to  work.  He  went  sadly  forth,  as  it 
were,  to  begin  life  anew,  and  was  greatly  troubled. 
He  seemed  completely  broken  down  in  spirit. 
Mother  bore  up  better  apparently  than  he  did,  and 
she  comforted  and  encouraged  him  all  she  could 
in  his  deep  despondency  and  gloom. 

The  great  Civil  War  came  on,  and  a  worse  trou- 
ble still,  if  possible,  came  upon  him.  To  keep  his 
work-stock,  he  was  obliged  to  stable  them  in 
the  yard  close  to  the  house  in  which  he  lived.  One 
night,  while  father  and  mother  were  both  absent 
in  the  neighborhood  attending  a  lady  who  was 
dying,  the  house  was  burned;  and  the  stables 
where  the  horses  and  mules  were  also  took  fire,  and 
all  were  completely  destroyed.  No  one  was  there 
but  a  daughter,  who  was  quite  young,  and  the 
smaller  children  left  in  her  care.  She  managed  to 
save  them,  and  that  was  all.  Everything  else  was 


1 6  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

lost.  Even  the  wearing  apparel,  excepting  the 
garments  which  they  had  on,  went  up  in  flames. 
This  disaster  truly  left  them  in  a  destitute  and  deso- 
late condition.  But  in  time  the  sons  grew  up  to 
manhood  and  came  to  the  rescue  of  their  father. 
They  bought  a  home  and  settled  him  comfortably 
on  it.  So  he  spent  his  last  years  independently,  in 
peace  and  quietude  on  his  own  little  farm. 

His  parents  were  poor,  but  good,  honest,  clever 
people.  They  were  strict  and  active  members  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  They  loved 
God  and  were  devoted  to  his  cause.  In  the  rearing 
and  training  of  their  children  they  were  cautious 
and  careful,  paying  much  and  close  attention  to 
their  religious  instruction  and  cultivation.  They 
carried  them  with  them  to  the  Sunday  school  and 
church.  This  was  good  for  them.  The  Sunday 
schools  were  not  then  as  they  are  now.  No;  they 
were  conducted  on  an  entirely  different  plan.  Tn 
those  days  we  carried  our  Bibles  with  us  to  the 
school  and  read  a  chapter  from  the  Old  or  New 
Testament,  as  the  case  might  chance  to  be.  The 
portion  of  Scripture  read  had  been  selected,  agreed 
upon,  and  studied  during  the  previous  week.  It 
was  always  read  in  regular  rotation.  The  order 
adopted  was  as  follows:  The  teacher,  who  usually 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LIFE.  17 

sat  at  the  head  of  the  class,  read  the  first  verse  in 
the  lesson,  and  then  each  pupil  read  consecutively, 
one  alter  another,  to  the  end.  And  when  the  read- 
ing was  finished  the  discussion  commenced,  in 
which  there  was  a  free  and  sometimes  pretty  warm 
interchange  of  views  and  opinions  concerning  the 
meaning  of  the  lesson  under  consideration.  The 
members  of  the  classes  were  also  required  to  com- 
mit to  memory  portions  of  Scripture.  Some 
would  stand  up  in  the  school  and  repeat  many 
verses  at  a  time  which  they  had  learned  during  the 
week.  This  peculiar  exercise  was  both  interesting 
and  instructive. 

The  Sunday  schools  which  we  have  now  are  su- 
perior to  those  of  that  day  in  many  respects,  but 
surely  not  in  all.  One  advantage  which  their  sys- 
tem had  over  ours  is  found  in  the  significant  fact 
that  it  kept  them  more  directly  in  vital  contact 
with  the  word  of  God.  And  if  their  aids  and  helps 
were  not  as  great  as  ours  are,  their  work  was — and 
there  is  always  a  blessing  in  toil  when  performed 
rightly  and  in  the  proper  spirit.  The  honest  la- 
borer, in  any  department  of  life,  is  invariably  sure 
of  his  reward. 

.  Now  when  the  Sunday  school  was  over  we  all  re- 
mained for  the  regular  services  of  the  church.   We 
2 


18  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

were  not  allowed  to  leave  till  preaching  was  over. 
This  was  the  established  custom  of  the  times,  and 
no  one  thought  of  violating  or  disregarding  it. 
And  to  have  attempted  such  a  thing  would  surely 
have  brought  trouble  upon  the  offender.  The 
matter  was  settled,  and  no  one  cared  to  undertake 
so  hazardous  an  enterprise,  as  he  knew  any  effort 
to  unsettle  it  would  prove  to  be. 

And  back  there  was  also  the  age  of  camp  meet- 
ings in  this  country.  And  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  engaged  largely  in  that  peculiar 
work.  His  parents  believed  in  the  camp  meetings. 
They  went  and  carried  all  their  children  along  with 
them,  and  remained  there  until  the  last  service  was 
closed.  What  grand  times  the  people,  and  preach- 
ers too,  had  on  such  occasions!  The  camp  ground 
was  put  in  order.  There  was  a  large  shelter  built 
in  strong  and  secure  style  which  was  capable  of  ac- 
commodating hundreds  of  folks.  The  altar  was 
covered  with  clean  wheat  or  oat  straw  in  abun- 
dance, for  the  mourners  to  kneel  down  on  and 
get  religion.  The  pulpit  was  always  built  at  one 
end  of  the  shelter,  and  at  night  the  whole  place  was 
illuminated  with  tallow  dips,  which  were  nailed  to 
the  big  posts  that  supported  the  shelter.  There 
were  tents  or  little  houses  made  of  poles  and  boards 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  19 

erected  all  over  the  camp  ground,  well  furnished 
with  straw-covered  bunks  for  the  people  to  sleep 
on.  And  generally  those  who  lived  near  the  place 
furnished  ample  provisions  to  feed  all  who  were  in 
attendance.  But  sometimes  they  came  from  a  dis- 
tance with  supplies.  The  horses  were  also  taken 
care  of  on  pastures  and  otherwise.  They  had  great 
times  at  the  camp  meetings.  Hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  people  were  converted  to  God  and  saved. 
The  preaching  was  powerful,  the  singing,  praying, 
and  exhorting  were  powerful,  and  the  convictions 
and  conversions  were  powerful.  The  order  on  such 
occasions  was  good,  for  there  was  a  regular  police 
force  appointed  to  see  that  there  was  no  misbe- 
havior or  misconduct  going  on.  Much  and  last- 
ing'good  was  accomplished.  The  camp  meetings 
contributed  largely  to  the.  building  up  of  all  the 
Churches.  The  vast  benefits  accruing  from  them 
still  remain  with  and  bless  us  even  at  this  remote 
period  from  their  existence.  Many  of  us  are  glad 
and  still  rejoicing  that  we  were  permitted  to  attend 
them.  But  their  day  is  past  and  gone.  They  were 
admirably  suited  to  the  sparsely  settled  condition 
of  the  country.  The  people  left  their  homes  and 
came  for  miles  to  be  at  them.  The  conveniences  of 
travel  were  not  then  what  thev  are  now — far  from 


20  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

it.  They  came  in  carts  and  wagons  and  on  horse- 
back. Barouches  and  buggies,  so  common  among 
the  people  now,  were  scarcely  known  then.  They 
were  comforts  and  luxuries  owned  and  enjoyed  by 
the  rich  only.  And  many  of  the  poorer  classes 
walked  long  distances  to  be  at  these  meetings. 
But  as  the  population  became  more  dense  the  ne- 
cessity and  demand  for  these  meetings  ceased. 

His  parents  were  not  sectarian  or  selfish  in  their 
religion.  They  believed  in  the  doctrines  and  us- 
ages of  their  Church,  maintained  and  defended 
them  when  the  occasion  called  for  it;  but  at  the 
same  time  they  were  liberal,  kind,  and  generous  to 
all  other  denominations,  and  they  were  often  seen 
worshiping  with  them  as  if  they  belonged  to  them. 
Houses  of  worship  were  scarce  in  those  days.  On 
this  account  public  services  were  often  conducted 
in  private  dwellings.  His  father's  house  was  al- 
ways open  on  such  occasions.  So  ministers  of  all 
denominations  frequently  came  and  preached  in 
his  home.  Ami  they  always  found  a  resting  place 
under  his  roof.  They  were  most  welcome  guests 
in  his  family.  He  was  delighted  to  have  them 
among  his  children  for  the  hallowed  influence  they 
exercised  over  them  and  the  holy  example  they  set 
before  them. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  21 

And  even  now  the  writer  recalls  with  a  feeling  of 
much  fondness  and  great  pleasure  the  songs, 
prayers,  exhortations,  and  sermons  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  hear  in  his  father's  own  humble 
home.  These  things  have  had  a  vast  and  constant 
influence  for  good  upon  his  life,  both  in  experience 
and  practice.  And  in  all  his  course  as  a  member  of 
the  Church  and  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  Christ 
he  has  not  for  a  moment  lost  sight  of  another  fact  of 
deep  interest  and  comfort  to  him:  he  never  knew 
his  parents  to  have  anything  like  a  dance  or  card 
party  in  their  house.  And  such  amusements  were 
as  common  in  those  davs  as  they  are  now.  They 
never  seemed  to  forget  that  they  were  Christian 
people  and  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  And  if  they  did  not  live  fully  up  to 
all  the  obligations  of  their  profession,  one  thing 
is  certain:  they  always  lived  in  strict  accordance 
with  it. 


THE  writer  is  unable  to  remember  when  he  was 
not  the  subject  of  religious  impressions.    At 
a  very  early  period  of  his  existence  he  began  to  feel 
and  recognize  his  responsibility  to  his  parents  and 
to  God.    As  already  indicated,  this  consciousness 


22  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

must  have  come  to  him  about  the  close  of  the  third 
or  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  of  his  life.  He 
thinks  that  he  was  christened  in  his  infancy  bv  Rev. 
John  L.  Smith,  a  famous  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
preacher,  of  great  eloquence  and  power  in  the  pul- 
pit. But  it  is  a  most  difficult  matter  for  him  to  tell 
when  and  where  he  obtained  the  pardon  of  his  sins; 
in  fact,  he  really  does  not  know.  It  must  have  been 
very  close  to  the  commencement  of  his  personal 
responsibility  to  God.  O  that  it  had  begun  with  it 
and  never  been  interrupted  at  any  time  in  his  life! 
But  alas!  such  is  not  the  case.  However,  he  has 
been  praying  unto,  and  trusting  in,  God  nearly  all 
of  his  conscious  existence.  And  his  faith  and  confi- 
dence in  God  from  tender  childhood  have  known 
nothing  like  serious  doubt  or  misgiving. 

He  may  here  properly  relate  a  simple  incident  of 
his  boyhood  which  will  give  an  idea  of  how  im- 
plicitly he  relied  upon  God  in  all  things.  One  of 
the  work  oxen  had  gotten  out  of  the  pound  and 
was  off  with  the  other  cattle  grazing  on  the  com- 
mons, and  when  he,  having  gone  after  him,  came 
upon  him,  he  stopped  and  kneeled  down  upon  his 
knees  and  prayed  that  he  might  be  able  to  get  the 
ox  back  to  the  pen  without  any  great  trouble.  His 
prayer  was  heard  and  answered.  But  it  may  be 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LITE.  23 

said  that  he  would  have  succeeded  as  well  in  get- 
ting the  animal  back  to  his  place  without  the 
prayer  as  he  did  with  it.  Well,  say  that  he  would, 
still  it  remains  true  that  he  himself  would  not  have 
been  as  well  off  and  as  happy  without  the  prayer  as 
he  was  with  it.  However  great  arid  grievous  his 
sins  in  the  past  may  have  been,  one  thing  about 
them  is  certain:  they  have  never  been  of  a  skeptical 
character.  He  does  not  know  how  to  question 
God's  faithfulness  in  keeping  his  promises. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  he  has  often  been 
greatly  troubled  about  his  waywardness  and  wick- 
edness in  feeling,  imagination,  speech,  and  con- 
duct. If  he  has  not  sinned  purposely,  he  has 
through  ignorance,  mistake,  inadvertency,  and  un- 
due excitement.  He  has  been  led  into  many  faults 
by  the  infirmities  of  the  flesh.  His  appetites  and 
passions  have  sorely  worried  him.  But  he  has  never 
lost  a  happy  sense  of  his  acceptance  with  God.  In 
spite  of  all  his  imperfections  and  weaknesses,  he 
has  held  himself  firm  in  his  resolution  and  effort  to 
love  and  follow  Christ  to  the  end.  And  at 
special  times  he  has  obtained  great  victories  over 
himself,  the  world,  and  the  devil.  He  has  had 
many  grand  occasions  of  communion  and  exulta- 
tion with  God.  He  now  recalls  one  in  particular. 


24  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

which  he  wishes  to  relate.  It  took  place  when  he 
was  about  seven  years  of  age.  There  was  a  large, 
splendid  old  chestnut  tree  which  stood  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  house.  He  was  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  this  tree  a  little  after  dark  for  devotional 
exercises — meditation  and  prayer.  One  evening  he 
went  forth  perhaps  a  little  earlier  than  usual  and 
fell  down  at  the  foot  of  this  grand  old  Heaven-built 
altar  and  began  to  pray  with  great  fervor  and  ear- 
nestness. It  was  a  fine  night.  The  whole  sky 
was  literally  aglow  with  hosts  of  glittering  stars, 
and  the  clear,  bright  moon  was  shining  serenely 
down  and  bathing  the  tranquil  world  below 
with  her  silvery  beams  of  pure  light.  It  was  as 
beautiful  as  day.  And  suddenly,  and  very  unexpect- 
edly to  him,  a  divine  influence  flooded  his  spirit, 
soul,  and  body  with  a  great  joy,  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.  He  was  so  happy  that  everything 
looked  perfectly  lovely  to  him.  In  the  heavenly 
transports  of  the  hour  he  felt  like  embracing  the 
bushes,  shrubs,  and  briers  round  about  him.  He 
rejoiced,  shouted,  and  praised  God  there  in  the 
moonlight.  It  was  an  hour  of  deep,  real,  conscious, 
happy  communion  with  Heaven.  There  was  no 
chance  for  anything  like  deception  in  that  case. 
Jesus  alone  could  have  blessed  him  so,  and  he  knew 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  25 

that  then  as  well  as  he  does  now,  and  he  hopes  to 
carry  the  fond  remembrance  with  him  to  his  death. 
He  continued  praying  regularly  and  trying  to 
serve  the  Lord  as  best  he  could  under  all  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  until  he  was  about  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  when,  as  he  was  reading  the 
following  passage  of  Scripture,  "Every  one  there- 
fore who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 
But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will 
I  also  deny  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven" 
(Matt.  x.  32,  33),  the  question  was  settled  with 
him,  and  he  determined  at  once  that  he  would 
make  a  public  profession  of  Christ  Jesus  before 
men  at  the  first  opportunity,  which  soon  presented 
itself.  In  a  few  days  there  was  to  be  a  protracted 
meeting,  which  was  announced  already  to  com- 
mence, near  his  father's  house.  He  made  prepara- 
tions to  attend  it.  The  first  service  of  that  .meet- 
ing was  held  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing, the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  month  of  August, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  fif- 
ty-five. But  he  was  not  permitted  to  be  present  to 
hear  that  morning  sermon.  It  was  cloudy  in  the 
forenoon  and  rained  steadily,  and  at  times  heavily, 
during  the  whole  of  the  afternoon  of  that  day. 


26  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

But  he  was  present  at  the  evening  service.  He 
went  in  due  time,  walking  about  one  mile  and  a 
half  through  mud  and  water,  and  on  his  arrival 
he  found  a  large  concourse  of  people  gathered  for 
worship  and  engaged  in  singing  while  the  minister 
was  getting  himself  in  readiness  for  the  approach- 
ing labors  of  the  hour.  They  sang: 

Brethren,  we  have  met  to  worship 

And  adore  our  God  the  Lord ; 
Will  you  pray  with  all  your  power, 

While  we  try  to  preach  the  word? 
All  is  vain  unless  the  Spirit 

Of  the  Holy  One  come  down : 
Brethren,  pray,  and  holy  manna 

Will  be  shower'd  all  around. 

That  was  a  very  popular  hymn  in  those  days, 
and  was  often  sung  in  order  to  put  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people  in  proper  frame  for  worship. 
Now  the  writer  of  this  sketch  had  fully  made  up 
his  mind  to  accept  and  comply  with  the  terms  of 
discipleship  on  this  occasion,  as  he  found  them 
laid  down  and  presented  to  him  by  our  Lord  him- 
self in  the  ninth  chapter  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  and 
at  the  twenty-third  verse:  "And  he  said  unto 
all,  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me." 
As  already  suggested,  it  only  remained  for  him  to 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  27 

make  a  public  declaration  of  his  willingness  and  de- 
termination to  live  the  life  of  a  humble,  faithful 
Christian,  having  sometime  previous  to  this  ex- 
perienced a  change  of  heart  which  brought  him 
into  saving  relations  with  God.  And  while  he 
did  not  feel  himself  under  condemnation  as  an  un- 
forgiven  sinner,  still  he  was  more  deeply  con- 
cerned about  the  condition  of  his  soul  in  the  eyes 
of  his  blessed  Saviour  than  anything  else  in  the 
whole  world,  for  he  was  fully  aware  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  make  a 
public  profession  of  his  faith  in,  acceptance  of,  and 
allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  And  he 
also  felt  satisfied  that  he  could  not  be  perfectly 
happy  until  he  did  this,  and  so  he  resolved  to  act 
in  the  matter  at  once.  There  was  no  long  delay, 
for  the  favorable  opportunity  was  close  at  hand. 
The  vast  assembly  present  were  not  in  the  church 
house,  but  under  a  very  large,  commodious,  and 
substantial  shelter  which  had  been  built  in  regular 
camp  meeting  style  for  use  during  the  hot  sum- 
mer months.  The  officiating  minister  was  a 
Methodist  preacher — a  circuit  rider  and  a  great 
revivalist.  It  was  the  Rev.  Robert  L.  Fagan.  He 
was  at  that  time  in  charge  of  the  Dickson  Circuit, 
in  the  bounds  of  which  this  great  meeting  was 


28  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

held.  He  was  a  handsome,  noble-looking  man, 
tall  enough,  jet-black,  glossy  hair,  dark,  brilliant, 
flashing  eyes,  splendid,  clear,  musical  voice.  He 
was  a  very  earnest,  impressive,  and  attractive 
speaker.  That  memorable  night,  so  valuable  and 
precious  to  the  writer,  he  read  for  his  text  the  fol- 
lowing beautiful  words:  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
father."  (Luke  xv.  18.)  The  sermon  was  good 
and  appropriate.  At  its  close  he  extended  the  in- 
vitation to  penitents — or,  as  it  was  called  in  those 
days,  which  is  far  better,  he  called  for  mourners — 
and  the  writer  arose  promptly  and  went  forward- 
literally  fell  prone  in  the  altar,  which  was  covered 
with  wheat  or  oat  straw.  He  was  not  there  long. 
They  were  singing  that  grand  old  hymn  of  Watts: 

Alas!  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed? 

And  did  my  Sovereign  die? 
Would  lie  devote  that  sacred  head 

For  such  a  worm  as  I? 

Was  it  for  crimes  tlu.t  I  have  done 

He  groaned  upon  the  tree? 
Amazing  pity  !  grace  unknown  ! 

And  love  beyond  degree! 

He  was  praying  and  trusting  with  all  his  heart; 
and  suddenly  there  came  into  his  soul  a  great 
peace,  joy,  and  happiness.  He  was  filled  unutter- 
ably full  of  glory  and  of  God.  This  great  blessing 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LIFE.  29 

was  preceded  by  a  moment  of  complete  uncon- 
sciousness to  him,  in  which  he  has  no  knowledge 
of  what  occurred  round  about  him;  but  he  does 
know  well  what  took  place  within  him — the  love 
of  God  was  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  was  given  unto  him.  He  had  been 
happy  before  in  the  Lord,  but  not  so  happy  as  he 
was  then;  his  cup  was  full  to  the  brim  and  running 
over.  He  shouted  aloud  and  praised  God.  Ev- 
erything about  him  seemed  changed  and  clothed 
with  a  strange  beauty.  He  looked  upon  his  moth- 
er's face,  to  find  it  shining  with  a  heavenly  radiance; 
the  countenance  of  the  preacher,  who  had  him  in 
his  arms,  was  beaming  with  celestial  bliss;  the  old 
tallow  dips,  nailed  to  the  big,  strong,  rough  posts 
that  supported  the  covering  of  the  immense  shel- 
ter, were  streaming  with  a  brilliancy  which  ap- 
peared to  him  then  brighter  than  the  magnificent 
electric  lights  which  flood  our  streets  now  with  the 
brilliancy  of  day  look  to  be;  the  very  straw  that  lay 
upon  the  altar  seemed  all  aflame  with  the  rapturous 
light  of  salvation.  His  spirit,  soul,  and  body  were 
all  happy  together.  He  leaped  into  the  air, 
shouted,  and  clapped  his  hands  with  inexpressible 
delight,  and  the  only  reason  he  can  give  why  his 
fingers  did  not  shout  aloud  is  the  simple  fact  that 


30  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

they  had  no  tongues  with  which  to  speak.  Of 
course  this  constituted  a  new  era  in  his  religious 
life.  His  experience  and  practice  both  took  on  a 
far  deeper  and  wider  significance  and  importance 
to  him.  Truly  he  knew  before  this  that  he  was 
converted;  but  others  could  not  know  it,  and  so  on 
this  occasion  he  proclaimed  it  publicly  to  the  world. 
So  it  was  with  Jacob.  That  patriarch  was  certainly 
and  beyond  all  doubt  converted  at  Bethel  in  the 
wonderful  dream  which  he  had  when  he  beheld  the 
mysterious  ladder  with  its  foot  resting  upon  the 
earth  and  its  head  or  top  leaning  upon  the  throne 
of  God  in  heaven,  and  the  bright  angels  of  glory 
ascending  and  descending  upon  its  shining  rounds, 
while  the  Son  of  Man  himself  was  seen  standing 
above  it.  And  this  is  the  view  which  the  prophet 
took  of  the  matter:  "He  found  him  at  Bethel,  and 
there  he  spake  with  us;  even  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
hosts;  Jehovah  is  his  memorial  name."  (Hos.  xii. 
4.)  From  Bethel,  had  he  died,  he  would  have  gone 
up  to  heaven.  But  when  he  wrestled  with  the  di- 
vine angel  of  the  covenant  upon  the  slippery  bank 
of  the  foggy  Jabbok,  he  learned  much  more  of  God 
than  he  had  known  before,  and  was  ever  afterwards 
a  much  better  and  happier  man.  Then  it  was  that 
he  obtained  a  most  signal  and  sacred  victory  for 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  31 

himself.  It  is  one  thing  to  know  the  Lord  in  the 
pardon  of  your  sins,  and  another  very  different 
thing  it  is  to  fully  and  forever  consecrate  yourself 
to  him  and  his  cause.  And  if  you  are  not  already 
entirely  satisfied  that  such  is  the  fact,  test  the  mat- 
ter at  once  for  yourself  by  personal  effort,  and  so 
learn  that  "If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and 
just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness."  (i  John  i.  9.) 


IMMEDIATELY  after  his  public  confession  of 
the  Christ  before  men,  the  writer  offered  him- 
self for  membership  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  and  on  being  accepted  he  request- 
ed to  be  baptized  by  immersion.  But  as  he  had 
been  baptized  in  his  infancy,  there  was  some  doubt 
expressed  as  to  the  propriety,  or  even  the  legiti- 
macy, of  complying  with  his  demand.  Finally,  how- 
ever, the  preacher  concluded  to  yield  to  his  desire, 
and  he  was  immersed  with  several  other  persons  in 
Jones's  Creek,  which  is  a  beautiful  stream  of  clear, 
pure  water  not  far  from  Charlotte,  the  little  town 
in  which  he  was  educated.  And  while  he  does  not 
now  see  any  reason  whatever  for  the  necessity  of 
his  rebaptism,  yet  he  does  not  at  all  regret  it.  He 


32  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

has  devoutly  studied  the  question  of  Christian  bap- 
tism with  great  care  and  interest,  and  he  regards 
the  sacrament  not  only  as  the  initiatory  rite  into  the 
Church,  but  also  as  being  highly  and  most  divinely 
symbolic  in  its  meaning.  For  instance,  immersion 
signifies  death  unto  sin  and  resurrection  into  new- 
ness of  life  to  him  who  is  baptized  by  that  particu- 
lar mode,  which  was  certainly  suggested  to  the 
mind  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  we  may  clearly 
see  from  the  following  references:  "Even  when  we 
were  dead  in  sins,  hath  [God]  quickened  us  to- 
gether with  Christ,  (by  grace  ye  are  saved;)  and 
hath  raised  us  up  together,  and  made  us  sit  to- 
gether in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus."  (Eph. 
ii.  5,  6.)  "Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by 
baptism  into  death:  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised 
up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life." 
(Rom.  vi.  4.)  Baptism  by  pouring  points  directly 
and  most  unmistakably  to  the  descent  and  divine 
affusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  expressly 
pointed  out  in  the  gospel  as  the  baptism  of  Christ: 
"And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  (Joel  ii.  28.) 
"I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance: 
but  he  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I, 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  33 

whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear:  he  shall 
baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire." 
(Matt.  ii.  n.)  "And  as  I  began  to  speak,  the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them,  as  on  us  at  the  beginning. 
Then  remembered  I  the  word  of  the  Lord,  how 
that  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  water; 
but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
(Acts  xi.  15,  1 6.)  Baptism  by  sprinkling  looks 
straight  to  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
for  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  cleansing  of 
the  soul  from  guilt.  "Elect  according  to  the  fore- 
knowledge of  God  the  Father,  through  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ."  (i  Pet.  i.  2.)  "And  I 
will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be 
clean:  from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your 
idols,  will  I  cleanse  you."  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  25.) 

So  it  becomes  evident  that  the  particular  mode 
of  baptism  which  any  one  may  select  on  coming 
into  the  Church  depends  altogether  upon  the  pe- 
culiar fact  in  his  Christian  experience  which  he 
wishes  to  make  most  prominent  by  that  sacred 
ceremony.  If  he  should  desire  to  emphasize  his  res- 
urrection from  the  death  of  sin  into  the  spiritual  and 
eternal  life,  he  will  be  immersed;  but  if  he  should 
have  in  view  the  precious  truth  that  he  has  been 
3 


34  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

saved  from  sin  and  ruin  by  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  will  by  all  means  prefer  pouring;  and  in 
case  he  should  attempt  to  place  special  stress  upon 
his  purification  from  all  unrighteousness  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  he  will  be  sure  to  ask  baptism  by 
aspersion. 

Now  the  writer  has  already  given  symbolic  ex- 
pression to  his  spiritual  resurrection  and  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  two  modes  of  the  sacred 
ordinance  which  he  has  received,  immersion  and 
pouring,  and  he  has  often  felt  that  he  would  like  to 
be  baptized  also  by  sprinkling,  that  he  might  there- 
by declare  the  conscious  fact  that  he  has  been 
washed,  cleansed,  and  sanctified  by  the  blood  of 
Jesus  his  Saviour,  and  he  can  see  no  good  reason 
why  this  should  not  be  done. 

T11K  writer  has  ever  felt,  even  from  his  ten- 
der childhood,  a  strong  and  constant  incli- 
nation to  the  ministry,  and  always  thought  that  he 
would  be  a  preacher  some  day.  And  soon  after  his 
connection  with  the  Church  this  abiding  impres- 
sion became  much  stronger  and  more  pronounced 
than  it  had  been  at  any  former  period  in  his  life. 
Rut  he  did  not,  as  many  have  done,  strive  against 
it.  but  he  yielded  readily  and  willingly  to  its  high 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  35 

claims  upon  him.  So  he  had  none  of  those  severe 
struggles  and  awful  conflicts  through  which  he  has 
frequently  heard  his  brethren  in  the  holy  calling 
speak  of  passing.  The  truth  is,  he  did  not  feel  that 
he  was  making  any  great  sacrifice  in  becoming  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  he  looked  upon  it  as  the  highest  honor 
that  God  could  confer  upon  him  in  this  life.  And 
so  he  continues  to  consider  it  even  now.  Most 
truly  he  has  at  all  times  felt  keenly  his  utter  incom- 
petency  and  embarrassing  unworthiness  to  fill  the 
hallowed  and  sacred  place  to  which  his  Lord  has 
called  and  appointed  him;  but  through  His  abun- 
dant grace  and  mercy  he  is  still  desirous  of  doing 
the  best  he  can  to  obey  him  and  benefit  his  fellow- 
men  by  proclaiming  in  his  humble  way  the  great 
and  grand  truths  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  a  dis- 
pensation of  which  has  been  granted  unto  him. 
And  he  only  regrets  that  he  is  not  holier  and  more 
lowly,  that  he  might  be  better  and  happier  himself 
and  more  useful  to  others  in  the  work  of  this  "glo- 
rious ministry."  When  God  calls  a  man  to  the  pul- 
pit, he  should  go  without  resistance,  murmur,  or 
complaint.  But  he  ought  not  to  enter  that  conse- 
crated place  until  he  is  divinely  commissioned  to 
do  so.  God  alone  has  the  right  to  select  and  send 


36  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

forth  his  messengers.  And  this  is  what  Jesus  held 
and  clearly  taught:  "Then  saith  he  unto  his  disci- 
ples, The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  labor- 
ers are  few;  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest, that  he  will  send  forth  laborers  into  his  har- 
vest." (Matt.  ix.  37,  38.)  Surely  none  but  the 
husbandman  who  owns  the  field  has  the  inherent 
right  to  employ  the  hands  to  reap  his  harvest.  So 
God  claims  the  indisputable  privilege  and  author- 
ity to  choose  and  send  forth  the  workmen  into 
his  great  harvest  field  to  convert  the  world  to  him 
and  his  cause.  However,  the  Church  should  not 
lose  sight  of  the  important  and  suggestive  fact  that 
he  proposes  to  use  this  sublime  prerogative  in  di- 
rect answer  to  her  prayers.  Perhaps  she  will  never 
lack  for  preachers,  whether  she  prays  for  them  to 
be  sent  to  her  or.  not.  The  strong  probability  is 
that  she  will  always  have  about  as  many  in  the 
ranks  of  her  ministry  as  she  will  be  liberal  enough 
to  support.  But  the  eminent  danger  which  now 
threatens  her  is  that  the  pastors  who  serve  at  her 
altars  may  not  be  of  God's  appointing.  And 
should  that  come  to  pass,  it  will  be  a  sad  day  in  her 
history.  It  may  come.  She  is  liable  to  rely  too 
much  upon  her  own  resources  to  supply  her  needs. 
She  may  draw  upon  her  institutions  of  learning— 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LIFE.  37 

her  colleges  and  universities — and  forget  to  ap- 
peal to  God.  A  poorly  qualified  ministry,  so  far 
as  the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  concerned,  which  is 
called  of  God  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  "glori- 
ous gospel  of  the  Son  of  man,"  is  far  preferable  to 
one  made  up  of  splendidly  endowed  and  thoroughly 
educated  men  who  are  without  the  authority  and 
destitute  of  the  necessary  equipment  of  the  divine 
call  from  heaven.  When  God  wants  a  man  to 
preach,  he  lets  him  know  it  and  opens  the  way  for 
him  to  obey  it. 

So  it  was  with  the  writer  of  these  chronicles. 
There  was  a  local  preacher  whose  name  was  Henry 
Hutton,  that  lived  in  a  few  miles  of  his  father's 
house,  who  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his  early 
start  in  the  ministry.  He  was  a  devout  man,  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  a  good  preacher.  He  was 
the  first  person  that  conversed  with  him  on  the 
subject.  He  encouraged  and  exhorted  him  to  be- 
gin the  important  work  at  once.  He  interposed 
no  objection,  but  took  his  advice  and  went  prompt- 
ly forward.  Not  long  after  this  conversation  the 
local  preacher,  having  previously  notified  him  of 
his  intention  to  call  on  him  to  offer  the  concluding 
prayer  at  the  close  of  a  sermon  delivered  by  him, 
did  so;  and  he  did  not  refuse,  or  even  hesitate,  but 


38  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

complied  as  well  as  he  could  with  his  kind  request. 
That  first  public  prayer!  Can  he  forget  it?  Nay, 
verily;  it  will  remain  with  him  to  his  latest  day. 
What  painful  and  yet  pleasant  sensations  of 
trust,  fear,  and  awe  possessed  him!  What  a  torrent 
of  tumultuous  feeling  and  uncontrollable  excite- 
ment swept  over  him!  In  that  grand  moment  he 
completely  lost  sight  of  himself  and  all  outward 
surroundings.  And  beine  perfectly  oblivious  to 
everything  about  him,  he  was  conscious  alone  of 
God's  presence  with  him.  When  the  prayer  was 
ended,  he  arose  from  his  knees  in  an  overwhelming 
ecstasy  of  joy.  From  that  happy  day  to  this  he  has 
been  trying  to  stand  faithfully  to  his  post. 

Not  long  after  this  the  Rev.  Joseph  G.  Myers, 
who  was  his  pastor  at  the  time,  gave  him  written 
license  to  exhort,  which  he  used  for  about  two 
years;  then,  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  June, 
eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  he  was  licensed  to 
preached  by  the  Quarterly  Conference  of  the  Dick- 
son  Circuit,  in  the  Clarksville  District.  Dr.  John 
W.  Hanner  was  the  presiding  elder  who  presided 
over  the  Conference;  Rev.  Joseph  Willis  was  the 
preacher  in  charge;  and  Rev.  Lewis  Lowe,  a  local 
preacher,  was  the  secretary.  After  he  was  licensed 
to  preach  he  continued  at  school  in  Charlotte  under 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  39 

the  instruction  of  Profs.  E.  E.  Larkins  and  Edwin 
Pascal,  both  famous  teachers.  He  also  attended 
the  Cumberland  University,  at  Lebanon,  Tenn., 
which  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  best  institutions 
of  learning  in  the  South.  And  while  at  school  he 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  miss  an  opportunity  to 
preach,  so  he  was  found  in  the  pulpit  nearly  every 
Sunday. 


NOW  from  the  first  he  had  fully  made  up  his 
mind  to  enter  the  Tennessee  Conference  at 
the  proper  time  and  become  a  regular  itinerant 
preacher.  But  he  was  unwilling  to  attempt  this 
without  as  thorough  preparation  as  he  was  able  to 
make  for  it ;  and  having  very  limited  means,  he  was 
obliged  to  work  his  way  along  as  best  he  could. 
He  labored  on  the  farm,  taught  school,,  and  did 
whatever  he  could  to  earn  money  to  fit  himself  for 
his  life  work.  He  took  charge  of  his  first  school 
when  he  was  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  It  was  a 
public  school.  He  got  through  it  very  well,  as  he 
succeeded  in  giving  general  satisfaction  to  his  pa- 
trons and  making  himself  fairly  popular  with  the 
pupils.  However,  there  are  one  or  two  incidents 
or  accidents  connected  with  his  career  as  an  in- 


40  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

structor  of  the  young  which  are  worthy  of  special 
mention.  His  first  day  in  the  schoolroom  was 
marked  with  something  which  was  very  much  like 
unto  a  tragic  ending.  The  school  was  large.  A 
great  many  little  folks  were  in  it,  and  it  was  soft, 
warm,  flowery  summer  time,  and  unfortunately,  as 
it  proved  to  be.  there  was  a  tremendous  hornets' 
nest  hanging  low  down  toward  the  ground  upon  a 
swinging  limb  of  a  big  tree  standing  not  far  from 
the  schoolhouse  and  almost  directly  in  front  of  it. 
Seeing  this,  the  teacher,  to  prevent  trouble,  cau- 
tioned the  children  about  it  and  told  them  to  keep 
away  from  it  during  playtime,  intending  to  destroy 
it  late  in  the  evening  of  that  day.  But  before  he 
was  aware  of  what  was  going  on  a  whole  crowd  of 
disobedient  and  desperately  mischievous  little  ur- 
chins had  completely  surrounded  it,  and  with  rocks, 
sticks,  and  other  suitable  missiles  had  literally  rid- 
dled it  to  pieces.  This  was  done  much  to  their  sor- 
row, for  it  greatly  irritated  the  vicious  stingers,  and 
they  quickly  sallied  forth  on  buzzing  wing  with 
murderous  intent.  Then  the  hot  battle  began  in 
good  earnest.  Immediately  every  frantic  child 
seemed  to  have  from  one  to  half  a  dozen  furious 
hornets  on  it,  and  they  all  with  one  consent  com- 
menced wildly  leaping,  jumping,  running,  yelling, 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LlFE.  41 

howling,  and  screaming  through  the  woods,  madly 
seeking  relief  and  finding  none.  It  was  late  in  the 
afternoon,  even  when  the  shadows  were  long  upon 
the  ground,  before  the  scattered  and  tortured 
forces  could  be  rallied  at  all.  And  when  finally  they 
were  collected  together  they  were  found  to  be 
badly  beaten  and  terribly  bunged  up.  The  next 
day  the  school  was  almost  entirely  destitute  of 
little  scholars. 


THERE  was  residing  in  that  neighborhood  an 
old  schoolmaster  who  was  somewhat  disap- 
pointed and  just  a  little  displeased  because  he  had 
failed  to  secure  the  school  for  himself,  so  he  con- 
cluded that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  him  and 
work  much  to  his  advantage  if  he  could  manage  in 
some  way  to  bring  embarrassment  and  confusion 
upon  the  young  pedagogue,  and,  being  skillful  in 
figures,  he  gave  him  a  rather  queer  problem  in 
mathematics  to  solve.  And  he  might  have  been 
thoroughly  successful  in  his  nefarious  intention  but 
for  a  most  lucky  occurrence  that  chanced  to  hap- 
pen only  a  short  while  before,  of  which  he  was  never 
informed.  Some  one  had  very  fortunately  given 
to  the  young  teacher  a  small  arithmetic,  compiled 


42  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

by  a  Mr.  Fowler,  which  contained  a  great  many 
puzzles  with  the  solutions  to  them,  and  the  one 
which  was  given  to  him  was  among  the  number, 
and  ran  as  follows: 

"A  country  clown  addressed  a  charming  she, 
Where  wit  and  beauty  pretty  did  agree. 
The  youth,  unskilled  in  numbers, 
Desirous  was  the  lady's  age  to  know ; 
The  answer  was  made  with  a  majestic  air, 
And  piercing  words  peculiar  to  the  fair: 
'My  age  in  years,  if  multiplied  by  three, 
Two-sevenths  of  that  product  thribble  be, 
The  extraction  of  the  square  root 
Of  the  power  nine  which  is  four, 
Tell  me  my  age,  or  never  court  any  more.' " 

Having  everything  needful  in  his  possession,  he 
was  enabled  in  a  few  hours  after  he  received  the 
test  question  to  return  it  with  the  correct  answer, 
and  this  circumstance  established  him  in  the 
estimation  of  that  community  as  one  of  the  wise 
men  of  the  age.  Strange  that  so  much  may  come 
out  of  so  little! 


AFTER  struggles  and  sacrifices,  the  writer  at 
last  found  himself  in  pretty  fair  condition  to 
join  the  Conference.    And,  properly  equipped  with 
the  Holy  Bible.  Methodist  hymn  book,  and  Wes- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  43 

ley's  "Notes  on  the  New  Testament,"  clad  in  a 
nice  suit  of  clothes  befitting  a  minister,  and  mount- 
ed on  an  excellent  young  horse,  he  went  forth  joy- 
ously as  a  humble  herald  of  the  cross  of  Christ, 
preaching  salvation  to  the  children  of  men.  He 
was  hopeful  and  happy  in  the  flattering  prospects 
which  spread  themselves  out  upon  the  unfolding 
scenes  of  the  future  to  his  enchanted  vision,  and  he 
has  never  for  one  moment  nor  for  any  reason  re- 
gretted the  movement. 


OCTOBER  ten  and  eighteen  inclusive,  eight- 
een hundred  and  sixty,  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference met  in  the  city  of  Clarksville,  and  at  that 
session  of  the  venerable  body  the  writer  of  these 
annals  was  admitted  into  the  traveling  connection 
on  trial.  The  Conference  was  composed  of  many 
great  and  good  men.  It  was  the  first  one  that  he 
had  attended.  Bishop  George  F.  Pierce,  of  Geor- 
gia, was  present  and  presided.  Up  to  that  time  he 
had  never  so  much  as  looked  upon  an  Episcopal 
dignitary  of  the  Methodist  Church.  The  Bishop 
was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance.  He  was 
exceedingly  handsome,  a  magnificent  orator,  and 
a  great  preacher.  His  sermon  on  Sunday  was 


44  SUNSHINE  AXD  SHADE  IN 

grand  beyond  expression.  It  must  have  been  one 
of  the  happiest  efforts  of  his  life.  This  writer  has 
heard  but  few  discourses  that  he  considers  equal 
to  it.  He  took  for  his  text  the  words:  "Who  ver- 
ily was  foreordained  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  but  was  manifest  in  these  last  times  for  you, 
who  by  him  do  believe  in  God,  that  raised  him  up 
from  the  dead,  and  gave  him  glory;  that  your  faith 
and  hope  might  be  in  God."  (i  Pet.  i.  20,  21.) 
The  atonement  was  his  theme,  which  he  presented 
to  his  rapt  hearers  in  a  most  masterly  and  eloquent 
manner,  both  as  to  its  origin  and  object.  It  was 
one  of  the  strongest,  clearest,  most  finished  and 
satisfactory  expositions  of  the  vicarious  sufferings 
of  the  Christ  that  could  possibly  be  given.  And  the 
effect  of  it  upon  the  vast  audience  who  listened  to 
it  was  truly  magnetic  and  wonderful. 

Simon  Peter  Whitten  was  elected  secretary  of 
the  Conference,  to  keep  a  faithful  record  of  the  de- 
liberations and  doings  of  the  reverent  brethren. 
The  session  was  a  long  one,  lasting  nine  days,  dur- 
ing which  time  a  great  deal  of  business  was  care- 
fully looked  after  and  attended  to.  The  forenoon 
of  each  day  was  given  to  the  transaction  of  the 
regular  business  matters  of  the  body,  and  the  after- 
noon was  devoted  to  religious  service  and  cabinet 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  45 

work.  There  was  a  large  class  received  that  year 
on  trial.  It  consisted  of  twenty-one  preachers, 
and  this  scribe  was  one  of  the  number.  The  class 
for  admission  was  not  called  till  Monday,  the  sixth 
day  of  the  session.  During  the  time  there  was  much 
anxious  apprehension  among  the  applicants  lest 
some  of  them  should  be  left  out,  as  it  was  thought 
doubtful  about  the  Bishop's  being  able  to  find 
places  for  so  many;  but  they  all  finally  got  in,  and 
were  assigned  to  work.  The  Rev.  Fountain  E. 
Pitts,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the 
whole  body  at  that  time,  on  account  of  his  wonder- 
ful natural  gifts  and  fine  attainments,  was  the  pre- 
siding elder  of  this  candidate.  He  presented  his 
case  to  the  Conference,  and  recommended  his  re- 
ception by  that  body.  He  was  one  of  the  best  nat- 
ural orators  that  his  age  produced,  and  he  was  the 
only  man  that  this  writer  has  ever  known  that  could 
do  all  the  work  of  a  Methodist  preacher  in  first-class 
style.  He  was  a  great  preacher,  fine  exhorter,  su- 
perior in  singing,  overwhelming  in  prayer,  success- 
ful in  conducting  altar  exercises  and  laboring  with 
mourners,  and  withal  a  splendid  poet.  And  of  the 
twenty-one  received  into  the  Conference  that  yeai 
six  of  them  were  from  Brother  Pitts's  district  and 
were  represented  by  him. 


46  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

NOW  at  the  closing  of  the  Conference,  when 
the  bishop  read  out  the  appointments,  this 
young  preacher  was  well  pleased  to  find  himself 
placed  on  the  Asbury  Circuit  as  junior  under  Wil- 
liam Handle  in  charge.  He  was  a  good  man,  a  fair 
preacher,  excellent  exhorter,  and  great  revivalist. 
Asbury  was  one  of  the  best  circuits  in  the  Confer- 
ence. It  was  a  tolerably  large  circuit,  beginning 
near  Clarksville  and  extending  up  the  Cumberland 
River  to  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles  from  the 
xtown,  containing  eighteen  or  twenty  preaching 
places.  And  it  was  what  was  called  in  those  days 
a  four  weeks'  circuit,  because  the  preachers  were 
expected  to  make  a  complete  round  upon  it  in 
twenty-eight  days,  thus  enabling  them  to  supply 
the  people  with  the  gospel  every  two  weeks.  The 
Rev.  Joseph  B.  West  was  made  presiding  elder  of 
the  Clarksville  District  that  year;  and  as  his  home 
was  situated  in  the  bounds  of  the  Asbury  Circuit, 
the  junior  preacher  spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time 
at  his  house,  and  in  this  way  an  intimacy  of  the 
very  closest,  most  confidential  and  pleasant  na- 
ture sprang  up  between  them,  and  was  never 
marred  nor  disturbed  to  the  end  of  life. 

Brother  West  was  an  excellent  man  and  a  grand 
gospel  preacher.     His  wife  was  one  of  the  best  and 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  47 

purest  of  women.  They  had  a  family  of  bright, 
interesting  children,  consisting  of  three  boys  and 
three  girls.  The  most  of  them  died  early.  This 
writer  was  always  received  with  a  hearty  welcome 
into  their  home  and  treated  as  kindly  by  them  as 
if  he  had  been  one  of  their  own  family.  He  can 
never  forget  the  happy  days  which  it  was  made  his 
good  fortune  to  spend  with  them  through  so  many 
vears  of  his  ministerial  life. 


IT  was  during  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty-one  that  the  terrible  Civil  War  burst 
forth  with  unabating  fury  and  drenched  our  fair 
and  happy  land  with  fratricidal  blood.  The  coun- 
try was  wild  with  excitement.  The  orators  were 
abroad,  speaking  everywhere,  calling  for  volun- 
teers, and  enlisting  men  for  the  army.  Patriotic 
blood  seemed  to  be  running  in  floods  of  fire  through 
Southern  veins.  The  war  followed  immediately 
upon  the  presidential  election  of  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty.  There  were  four  candidates  in  the  field 
that  year  for  presidential  honors.  On  the  Aboli- 
tionist ticket  there  were  the  names  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  Hannibal  Hamlin.  The  popular  vote 
cast  for  them  numbered  one  million,  eight  hundred 


48  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

and  sixty-six  thousand,  four  hundred  and  fifty-two; 
their  electoral  vote  was  one  hundred  and  eighty. 
The  Democratic  party  was  split  in  twain.  The 
Northern  wing  of  the  party  placed  upon  their  tick- 
et the  names  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  H.  V. 
Johnson;  popular  vote,  one  million,  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven;  electoral  vote,  twelve.  The  Southern  divi- 
sion of  Democracy  put  the  names  of  John  C.  Breck- 
inridge,  who  had  just  served  a  term  as  Vice  Presi- 
dent with  James  Buchanan  as  President,  and  Joseph 
Lane  on  their  ticket;  popular  vote,  eight  hundred 
and  forty-seven  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  fifty- 
three;  electoral  vote,  seventy-two.  The  Whig 
party  nominated  on  their  ticket  John  Bell  and  Ed- 
ward Everett;  popular  vote,  five  hundred  and  nine- 
ty thousand,  six  hundred  and  thirty-one;  electoral 
vote,  thirty-nine.  Then  there  were  thirty-three 
States  in  the  Union,  with  a  population  of  thirty-one 
million,  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand,  and 
forty-eight.  The  entire  vote  cast  at  the  polls  in 
that  election  was  larger  by  at  least  five  hundred 
thousand  than  on  any  previous  occasion. 

Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
South  Carolina  withdrew  from  the  Federal  com- 
pact. The  President  at  once  issued  his  proclama- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  49 

tion,  calling  on  all  the  States  to  furnish  troops  for 
the  purpose  of  compelling  the  recalcitrant  State  to 
return  to  her  vacated  place  in  the  Union.  This  de- 
cided the  action  and  fixed  the  fate  of  the  South. 
In  rapid  succession  one  State  after  another  seceded 
from  the  Union,  and  proceeded  to  organize  them- 
selves into  the  Confederate  government  and  to 
make  their  preparations  for  defense.  This  led  to  a 
fearful  internecine  war,  which  lasted  four  years  and 
devastated  and  desolated  the  whole  country  from 
the  Southern  gulf  to  the  Northern  lakes.  At  last, 
however,  the  North  prevailed.  After  a  desperate 
struggle,  the  South  was  overcome  and  subdued, 
which  resulted  in  the  utter  destruction  of  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery,  which  had  been  a  most  fruitful 
source  of  strife  and  dissension  in  both  Church  and 
State  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  government 
up  to  the  time  of  its  abolition.  But  it  cost  the 
North  much  in  blood  and  treasury  to  accomplish 
the  undertaking,  as  will  be  seen  from  consulting 
the  following  figures:  She  enlisted  into  the  Fed- 
eral army  during  the  war  two  million,  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-eight  thousand,  eight  hundred 
and  four  soldiers,  of  whom  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  thousand,  nine  hundred  were  foreigners,  and 
four  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand,  four  hundred 
4 


50  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

and  fourteen  were  negroes.  The  Confederates 
mustered  six  hundred  thousand  men  into  service. 
The  Xorth  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
men  in  battle,  and  the  South  lost  fifty-four  thou- 
sand— aggregating  one  hundred  and  eighty-four 
thousand,  six  hundred  and  four. 

Notwithstanding  a  tremendous  excitement  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  circuit,  the  people  in  gen- 
eral showed  no  disposition  whatever  to  neglect 
their  duties  to  God  or  the  Church;  but  they  contin- 
ued true  to  the  Lord  and  remained  faithfully  and 
devoutly  religious  under  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances. Homes  and  communities  were  being  dec- 
imated and  in  many  instances  well-nigh  depopu- 
lated. Fathers,,  brothers,  and  sweethearts  were 
joining  the  army  in  multitudes  and  leaving  for  the 
camp  and  the  field  of  battle.  Old  and  young,  one 
and  all,  seemed  alike  eager  for  the  fray.  The  whole 
country  where  this  writer  was  appeared  to  be  fully 
bent  on  winning  their  freedom  at  all  hazards,  dan- 
gers, and  sacrifices.  Even  the  preachers  were  for- 
saking their  charges,  doffing  ministerial  robes,  don- 
ning uniforms,  and  rushing  with  guns  in  their  hands 
and  knapsacks  on  their  backs  into  the  army.  And 
witnessing  all  this  stir  and  preparation  for  war  and 
bloodshed,  this  preacher  l>egan  to  study  the  grave 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  51 

question  in  the  most  serious  manner.  What  was 
he  to  do?  It  looked  as  if  all  were  going,  and  that 
sooner  or  later  he  would  be  compelled  to  follow. 
So  it  was  he  betook  himself  to  prayer,  and  in  this 
way  solved  the  question.  He  saw  clearly  and  forci- 
bly that  preachers  cannot  consistently  and  inno- 
cently go  into  the  army  as  soldiers  to  fight.  Their 
special  work  is  to  preach  peace  to  men  and  deliver 
a  message  of  love  to  them.  Then  it  is  all  out  of 
harmony  with  their  divine  calling  to  seize  upon 
musket  and  rifle  and  go  to  shooting  sinners.  So  it 
presented  itself  to  him  then,  and  so  it  presents  it- 
self to  him  now.  But  it  is  all  right  for  them  to  go 
as  chaplains  to  the  army  and  proclaim  salvation  to 
the  soldiers,  minister  to  the  sick,  and  comfort  the 
dying.  All  that  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  their  pe- 
culiar work,  and  comports  well  with  their  heavenly 
vocation. 

But  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  he  determined 
to  let  the  war  alone  and  have  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  it.  He  preached  all  through  the  bloody 
struggle  as  if  he  had  been  in  the  midst  of  the  bright- 
est days  of  the  profoundest  peace;  and  the  Lord 
took  good  care  of  him,  constantly  blessed  him, 
and  abundantly  prospered  his  labors  in  the  minis- 
try. That  was  a  grand  year  in  his  life.  Despite 


52  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  turbulent  times  and  stirring  events,  he  made 
many  friends  among  the  children,  young  people, 
and  old  folks.  He  was  successful  in  holding  pro- 
tracted meetings.  Many  sinners  were  happily  con- 
verted to  God  and  the  Church  was  greatly  blessed 
through  his  humble  efforts  in  the  pulpit  and  pas- 
torate. 


IN  those  days  Asbury  Circuit  was  somewhat 
noted  for  the  unusual  and  marked  ability  of 
its  local  ministry.  The  Rev.  Sterling  Brewer,  who 
had  once  been  a  member  of  the  Conference,  was  a 
man  of  much  and  varied  learning,  an  interesting 
and  instructive  preacher,  a  pure-minded,  amiable 
Christian  gentleman,  a  poet  of  no  common  ability, 
and  a  very  popular  school-teacher.  At  that  time  he 
had  charge  of  a  large  and  very  prosperous  school. 
He  was  a  rather  delicate  and  feeble  man. 

The  Rev.  Lewis  Lowe,  who  had  been  a  traveling 
preacher  for  some  years,  a  man  of  captivating  pow- 
ers in  the  pulpit,  with  pleasing  manners  and  fine 
social  qualities,  well-educated  and  conversant  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  had  settled  on  a  farm, 
was  following  agricultural  pursuits,  and  doing  well. 
He  was  a  large,  healthy,  strong,  robust  man. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  53 

The  Rev.  John  Nolen,  once  an  itinerant  preach- 
er, a  remarkable  exhorter,  full  of  zeal  and  revival 
fire  and  effective  power,  was  conducting  a  nice  farm 
with  pleasure  and  profit  to  himself. 

The  Rev.  Isaac  Walton,  a  man  of  gentle  spirit, 
pure  life,  lovely  character,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  abundant  in  good  works,  for  several  years  a 
most  popular  preacher  in  the  Conference,  was  living 
in  one  of  the  most  prosperous  communities  in  the 
bounds  of  the  work,  practicing  medicine  with  emi- 
nent success  and  much  satisfaction  to  the  people. 
He  was  one  of  the  sweetest  singers  in  all  the  land, 
preached  more  funeral  sermons  than  anybody,  and 
married  nearly  all  of  the  young  folks. 

The  Rev.  Allen  Brown  was  the  only  local  preach- 
er among  them  all  who  had  never  belonged  to  the 
Annual  Conference.  He  was  a  man  of  fair  preach- 
ing ability,  a  useful  citizen,  kind  and  hospitable  in 
his  home,  and  loved  by  his  neighbors.  His  son, 
the  Rev.  George  W.  Brown,  who,  after  spending 
some  years  as  an  acceptable  circuit  rider,  was 
forced  on  account  of  failing  health  to  retire  from 
active  work,  was  living  with  his  father  on  the  farm. 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
of  them  all  was  the  Rev.  Milton  Ramey.  He  was  a 
man  of  rare  gifts  and  accomplishments.  His  ef- 


54  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

forts  in  the  pulpit  were  marvelous.  They  were 
overwhelmingly  sublime,  unsurpassed  for  profound- 
ness of  thought,  loftiness  of  expression,  and  orator- 
ical fervor.  After  filling  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant appointments  in  the  Conference,  he  voluntarily 
called  for  a  location,  went  to  farming,  trading,  and 
making  money. 


THE  young  preacher  was  not  much  given  to 
the  ordinary  popular  diversions  of  the  day. 
He  never  went  on  fishing  and  hunting  expeditions 
under  any  circumstances,  and  knew  nothing  about 
any  games,  so  he  played  at  none.  But  he  found  a 
great  deal  of  amusement  in  breaking  colts.  Indeed, 
he  was  so  very  fond  of  the  somewhat  rough  and 
risky  sport  that  he  would  gladly  leave  his  own 
horse  to  graze  for  days  on  any  man's  pasture  who 
would  hand  over  to  him  an  unbroken  youngster, 
not  caring  how  wild  and  obstreperous  he  might 
be.  All  he  desired,  asked,  or  sought  was  to  get 
him  securely  bridled  and  saddled,  and  to  find  him- 
self safely  mounted  on  his  untamed  and  untrained 
back.  Now  for  some  time  he  had  had  his  anxious 
eye  bent  upon  an  unusually  large,  bulky,  awkward, 
gawky,  lazy,  sluggish  monster.  Finally  he  made 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LIFE.  55 

himself  successful  in  pleading  with,  persuading, 
coaxing,  and  worrying  the  reluctant  owner  of  this 
equine  mammoth  to  confidingly  commit  him  into 
his  power — all  ready  for  a  ride.  Then  it  took  him 
an  entire  day  and  part  of  the  night  to  move  the 
sulky  charger  over  a  good,  broad,  smooth  country 
road  a  distance  of  fourteen  miles  from  the  start- 
ing point.  And  when  at  last  he  stopped  and  put  up 
with  a  friend  to  rest  for  the  remaining  portion  of 
the  night  he  felt  that  he  had  ferociously  worked 
his  passage  to  that  place.  On  his  toiling  way 
thither  he  had  violently  met  with  an  awful  plunge 
which  afforded  him  a  most  flattering  opportunity 
for  filling  a  watery  grave,  which  excellent  chance 
he  narrowly  missed.  The  case  was  simply  this:  On 
his  hard  run  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  cross  the 
Cumberland  River  in  a  ferryboat.  But  his  uncon- 
querable and  undaunted  steed,  having  never  seen 
such  a  vessel  before,  refused  utterly  and  uncon- 
ditionally to  accept  or  submit  to  the  strange  mode 
of  transportation.  At  last  the  impatient  and  de- 
termined rider,  with  keen  whip  in  hand,  ordered 
the  two  stout  colored  gentlemen  who  had  charge 
of  and  were  working  the  floating  craft,  and  were 
holding  long,  tapering,  tough  switches  in  their 
sable  fingers,  to  assist  him  in  heating  that  terri- 


56  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

tory  so  hot  that  the  defiant  beast  could  by  no 
means  remain  any  longer  at  ease  in  it.  This 
course  worked  like  a  veritable  charm.  He  sud- 
denly waked  up  from  his  stubborn  slumber  and 
went  thundering  into  the  boat;  and  if  he  had  only 
stopped  at  that,  all  would  have  ended  well.  But 
alas!  that  was  but  the  beginning  of  a  profound  mis- 
fortune. Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  unspeakable  and 
uncontrollable  consternation  which  reigned  with- 
out a  rival  in  that  moment  when  the  thoughtless, 
maddened,  crazy  brute  went  dashing  headlong  like 
a  wild,  crashing  bolt  of  lightning  to  the  other  end 
of  the  rattling  boat  and  proceeded  unceremonious- 
ly to  jump  just  as  far  out  into  the  broad,  chilly, 
muddy  stream  as  his  unmeasured  strength  and 
wicked  recklessness  would  carry  him.  Well,  what 
happened  then?  Why,  of  course,  a  cold,  cruel, 
deep  ducking,  which  effectually  drowned  all  the 
previous  fun  of  the  scrape  and  left  both  the  sub- 
dued animals  so  rashly  participating  in  the  daring 
escapade  in  a  fine,  depressed  state  of  spirits.  The 
whole  ludicrous  affair  furnished  another  sad  re- 
minder of  the  already  too  familiar  fact  that 
"The  best-laid  schemes  o'  mice  an'  men 

Gang  aft  a-gley 

And  lea'e  us  naught  but  grief  and  pain, 
For  promised  joy." 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  57 

BUT  the  trials  and  troubles  of  the  young  theo- 
logian did  not  cease  with  this  cold  and 
shocking  calamity,  for  he  soon  ran  upon  another 
unexpected,  exciting,  and  vexatious  adventure  of 
no  small  dimensions.  Thinking  it  necessary  and 
proper  for  him  to  indoctrinate  and  instruct  his  peo- 
ple more  thoroughly  in  the  customs  and  holdings 
of  his  Church,  he  bravely  undertook  to  preach  to 
them  an  exhaustive  sermon  on  the  three  modes  of 
baptism,  in  which  delightful  attempt  he  felt  that  he 
had  succeeded  in  showing  up  in  an  extravagant 
manner  the  superior  liberality  of  his  own  denomina- 
tion over  all  others  in  this  most  vital  matter  which 
he  had  in  hand  for  treatment.  But  it  happened  that 
one  of  his  hearers,  who  maintained  that  immersion 
alone  was  baptism,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  per- 
formed only  for  the  remission  of  sins,  unluckily 
overtook  him  on  the  next  day  as  he  was  riding  si- 
lently, serenely,  and  meditatively  over  a  very  dry 
and  dusty  road  which  ran  for  some  miles  right 
along  close  to  the  bank  of  that  same  majestic 
stream  of  which  he  has  just  been  speaking,  the 
rolling  Cumberland.  On  coming  together  they 
easily  and  willingly  glided  into  a  discussion  of  the 
late  sensational  discourse,  which  rushed  rapidly 
along  into  a  stormy  controversy,  in  which  loud, 


58  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

noisy,  and  abusive  words  were  freely  indulged. 
Both  of  the  fiery  combatants  soon  lost  their  wits 
and  wisdom,  so  that  blind  passion  without  restraint 
ruled  the  hour  and  the  men  too.  They  accused 
each  other  in  forcible  and  rough  language  of  deal- 
ing largely  in  false  statements.  The  unsettled  is- 
sue between  them  was  the  simple  question  as  to 
whether  a  Methodist  minister  could  be  induced 
under  any  circumstances  whatsoever  to  baptize  a 
person  by  immersion.  The  preacher  was  warmly 
affirming  and  the  hearer  was  hotly  denying,  and 
at  last  he  proposed  to  settle  the  matter  then 
and  there  by  making  a  personal  and  practical  test 
of  it,  saying:  "You  declare  that  you  will,  but  I 
know  you  will  not.  Now  I  give  you  a  chance  to 
show  your  hand.  I  am  a  sinner.  In  the  language  of 
the  eunuch  to  Philip,  'See,  here  is  water;  what  doth 
hinder  me  to  be  baptized?'  '  The  answer  came 
promptly  and  quickly:  "Nothing.  Come  on.  and 
we  will  attend  to  it."  Whereupon,  with  neither 
hesitation  nor  consideration,  they  dropped  from 
their  horses,  walked  to  the  water,  pulled  off  their 
hats,  placed  their  pocketbooks  and  watches  in 
them,  and  without  another  word  proceeded  to 
business.  Neither  of  them,  however  anxious  he 
mav  have  been  to  do  so,  could  verv  well  have 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE. 


59 


proposed  to  the  other  j;o  recede  from  his  hasty 
challenge  and  abandon  the  questionable  transac- 
tion, but  they  were  doing  some  private  thinking. 
The  undevout  preacher  decided  in  his  own  mind 
that  if  he  got  the  unsuitable  candidate  under  he 
would  see  the  water  bubble  before  he  let  him  up. 
His  intention  was  to  keep  him  in  the  liquid  grave 
about  as  long  as  one  could  safely  remain  there. 
But,  unfortunately,  he  was  in  poor  condition  to  ac- 
curately measure  time,  and  his  attention  was  di- 
verted by  seeing  the  man's  feet  popping  up  out  of 
the  river  one  after  the  other  in  rapid  succession,  as 
if  he  were  on  a  fast  run,  literally  beating  the  water 
into  white  foam.  When  he  turned  him  loose  he 
swerved,  wavered,  and  staggered,  but  soon  re- 
gained his  footing,  and,  lifting  his  head  from  the 
closing  waves,  he  made  haste  to  throw  the  water 
from  his  mouth  and  nostrils  somewhat  after  the 
style  of  a  playful  young  whale  out  on  a  sporting 
spree.  But  soon  the  whole  scene  was  changed. 
Flying  rocks  were  heard  whizzing  through  the  hot, 
sultry  air  with  threatening  roar,  and  the  young 
divine  with  mighty  fear  and  trembling  was  going 
full  tilt  in  his  dripping  linen,  making  the  grandest 
retreat  of  his  life,  without  the  least  regard  for  dust 
and  heat.  The  hearer  was  clearlv  convinced  that  a 


60  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

Methodist  minister  might  be  prevailed  upon  under 
peculiar  conditions  to  baptize  a  man  by  immersion, 
and  the  preacher  was  more  than  satisfied  that  doing 
so  on  certain  occasions  would  at  least  prove  to 
be  an  extremely  dangerous  experiment  to  his 
bodily  safety,  official  dignity,  and  cleanliness  of 
clerical  cloth.  After  a  long,  hazardous,  but  harm- 
less running  engagement  the  tired-out  belliger- 
ents mutually  concluded  to  hold  a  council  of  war, 
which  easily  resulted  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  equally 
agreeable  and  honorable  to  both  parties;  so  they 
folded  forever  the  crimson  battle  flag  and  un- 
furled the  bright  banner  of  professed  friendship  and 
formal  love. 

"Oh,  friendship!  thou  balm  and  sweet'ner  of  life! 
Kind  parent  of  ease,  and  composer  of  strife!" 


WHILE  on  the  Asbury  Circuit  the  junior 
preacher,  having  been  requested  to  do  so, 
was  in  the  habit  of  preaching  to  the  colored  people 
in  a  certain  rich  community,  and  for  convenience 
and  comfort  a  large  tobacco  barn  had  been  fitted 
up  for  that  purpose.  Temporary  seats  had  been  im- 
provised, and  the  altar  was  abundantly  supplied 
with  clean  straw.  Candles  were  used  for  lighting 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  61 

up  the  vast  building.  A  nice  platform,  mounted 
with  a  very  decent,  plain  pulpit,  was  carefully  ar- 
ranged in  a  suitable  place  to  be  occupied  by  the 
minister.  Now  the  barn  was  the  property  of  a 
wealthy  gentleman  who  was  himself  the  owner  of 
many  slaves,  and  whom  we  shall  call  the  Squire. 
Although  he  was  not  by  profession  a  religious  man, 
he  was  a  regular  attendant  upon  these  meetings 
and  took  the  deepest  interest  in  them.  One  Sun- 
day night,  after  the  services  were  over,  as  he  and 
the  preacher  were  walking  along  and  talking  with 
each  other  on  their  way  to  his  house,  he  remarked 
to  the  preacher:  "You  are  doing  no  good.  You 
don't  know  how  to  preach  to  these  'niggers;'  your 
sermons  are  intellectual  bores  to  them."  After  a 
long,  still,  thoughtful  pause,  the  preacher  ventured 
by  way  of  reply  to  say  to  him:  "Then  will  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  suggest  to  me  how  I  ought  to  preach  to 
them?"  He  quietly  responded:  "Yes,  you  should 
preach  to  them  as  Jesus  did  to  the  people  in  his  day, 
in  parables  and  allegories,  for  if  you  want  to  help  a 
'nigger'  and  interest  him,  you  must  speak  plainly— 
tell  him  stories  and  give  him  illustrations."  At 
once  the  preacher  saw  the  point,  recognized  the 
wisdom  of  the  advice,  and  instantly  decided  to 
adopt  it,  fully  persuaded  that  he  should  profit  by  it. 


62  Si'XSHLVE  AXD  SHADE  IN 

Before  his  next  appointment,  while  reading  a  news- 
paper, he  happily  fell  upon  an  incident  which  af- 
forded him  an  opportunity  for  gathering  material 
for  the  preparation  of  an  appropriate  sermon.  It 
contained  a  graphic  description  of  some  people  who 
were  exploring  the  Mammoth  Cave,  in  Kentucky. 
The  writer  described  in  an  animated  way  how  a 
young  man  belonging  to  the  party,  becoming  inter- 
ested in  some  curiosities  which  attracted  his  atten- 
tion, was  lost  from  the  rest  of  the  company.  They 
had  gone  on  ahead  of  him  so  far  that  their  lights 
had  completely  disappeared  before  he  became  aware 
of  his  condition.  Frightened,  he  started  in  pursuit 
of  them,  hoping  soon  to  overtake  them;  but  he  was 
disappointed  in  this  expectation,  and  so  went  toil- 
ing on  until  he  came  to  where  the  cave  forked,  and 
unfortunately  he  took  the  wrong  prong.  After 
a  while  his  torch  burned  out,  leaving  him  in  rayless 
gloom  to  grope  his  way  as  best  he  could.  As  he 
struggled  on  in  darkness  and  terror,  finally  he  came 
to  a  precipice,  which  he  discovered  just  in  time  to 
prevent  himself  from  falling  over  it.  Here,  weary 
and  exhausted,  he  dropped  down  upon  the  edge  of 
the  pit,  almost  frantic  with  fear  of  death,  when  his 
companions,  who  had  missed  him  from  their  num- 
ber and  were  hunting  for  him,  came  opportunely 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  63 

upon  him  and  gladly  rescued  him  from  his  desolate 
and  desperate  plight.  When  he  preached  in  the 
barn  again  he  took  for  his  text  these  familiar  words, 
"Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world"  (Matt.  v.  14),  and, 
using  this  story,  he  vividly  pointed  out  and  illus- 
trated the  awful  condition  of  the  poor  sinner,  lying 
helplessly  upon  the  dangerous  border  of  the  dark 
gulf  of  ruin,  listening  with  dread  and  alarm  to  the 
terrible  rush  of  the  cold  river  of  death  while  its 
black  waves  were  beating  at  his  feet,  not  heeding 
that  the  blessed  Church  of  God  was  there  with  him 
in  all  tenderness  and  love,  with  the  beautiful  light  of 
salvation  blazing  in  her  kind  hand,  earnestly  striv- 
ing to  lead  him  back  to  eternal  life,  happiness,  and 
heaven.  Immediately  after  he  commenced  in  this 
strain  the  negroes  began  to  groan  and  send  up 
short,  vigorous  ejaculations  of  prayer  and  praise 
all  through  the  immense  congregation.  The  inter- 
est and  excitement  steadily  increased,  and  when 
mourners  were  called  the  altar  was  soon  filled  and 
crowded  with  darkies  weeping  profusely  and  crying 
aloud  for  mercy  and  pardon.  It  was  not  long  till 
rejoicing  and  shouting  became  the  order  of  the 
hour.  And  as  the  preacher  was  looking  around 
over  the  crowd  he  discovered  with  pleasant  sur- 
prise the  Squire,  standing  by  old  Uncle  Gabe,  one 


64  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

of  his  own  servants  and  a  particular  favorite  in 
whom  he  Had  unbounded  confidence,  holding  him 
by  the  hand  and  singing  with  him  loudly  and  lustily 
"Steal  away,  steal  away  to  Jesus,"  which  was  a  very 
popular  song  with  the  colored  folks  in  those  days. 
And  when  they  were  singing  it  they  always  went 
through  the  significant  motion  of  swaying  the 
body  as  if  they  were  in  the  act  of  slipping  off,  and 
so  did  the  master  on  this  most  gracious  occasion 
with  his  own  slave  whom  he  loved  and  trusted  as  a 
brother  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  whether  he  was  really 
converted  that  night  or  not,  he  was  evidently  just 
as  happy  as  any  one  in  the  meeting. 


THE  Conference  met  in  the  pleasant  and  cul- 
tivated little  city  of  Athens,  Ala.,  that  being 
a  part  of  its  territory  at  the  time,  on  the  second  of 
October,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one,  and 
closed  its  session  on  the  eighth  day  afterwards. 
Bishop  John  Early,  of  Virginia,  was  present  and 
presided  over  the  deliberations  of  the  body,  and 
Rev.  Simon  Peter  Whitten  was  chosen  by  them  to 
be  their  secretary.  The  Bishop  was  a  very  impress- 
ive and  striking  man  in  personal  appearance. 
When  one  saw  him  he  was  not  likely  to  forget  it 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  65 

soon.  He  was  a  very  venerable-looking  gentle- 
man, about  six  feet  in  height,  well-proportioned, 
expressive  gray  eyes,  hair  white  as  wool,  red  face, 
clean-shaved.  You  could  plainly  see  firmness  and 
decision  in  every  feature  and  in  every  movement  of 
the  man.  He  had  the  bearing  of  a  proud,  stub- 
born, haughty  person,  and  yet  with  all  that  he  really 
possessed  a  kind  heart  and  an  accommodating  na- 
ture. In  the  chair  he  gave  general  satisfaction  to 
the  Conference,  but  no  one  was  heard  compliment- 
ing him  much  for  his  pulpit  performance  on  Sun- 
day. The  conclusion  seemed  to  be  among  most  of 
them  that  he  was  rather  a  plain  preacher  for  the 
episcopacy — not  very  flowery  nor  eloquent.  In 
his  cabinet  work  he  displeased  many.  He  made 
numerous  changes,  and  scattered  the  preachers 
around  in  lively  style.  The  whole  country  was  in  an 
unsettled  and  unhappy  condition.  The  North  and 
South  were  engaged  in  a  most  bloody  war  with 
each  other.  Already  several  great  battles  had  been 
fought.  At  that  time  the  advantage  was  clearly 
with  the  Southern  people,  and  they  were  wild  with 
excitement.  Many  of  the  preachers  were  in  the 
army — some  as  chaplains,  but  most  of  them  as  sol- 
diers. In  the  midst  of  all  the  turbulency  and  agi- 
tation abroad  in  the  land,  the  Conference  went  on 
5 


66  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

pretty  smoothly  with  its  business  from  start  to  fin- 
ish. 

The  young  preacher  from  the  Asbury  Circuit  was 
deeply  concerned  about  all  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  body.  He  was  before  the  committee  appointed 
to  examine  his  class,  and  was  passed.  The  examina- 
tion was  thorough,  close,  and  rigid,  but  he  liked 
it  the  better  on  that  account.  This  was  his  first 
Conference  since  his  admission  on  trial  into  it.  He 
took  the  profoundest  interest  in  all  the  business 
transactions  of  the  body.  He  listened  with  undi- 
vided attention  to  the  discussions  and  debates 
among  the  brethren  on  the  different  questions 
which  came  up  before  them  for  their  consideration 
and  action.  During  the  session  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  many  of  the  brethren.  And  right 
there  and  then  he  began  to  learn  and  appreciate 
that  tender  sympathy  and  warm  affection  which 
Methodist  preachers  always  have  for  one  another 
and  which  has  been  such  a  precious  blessing  to  his 
life  and  comfort  to  his  heart  ever  since.  They  are  a 
true,  noble,  self-sacrificing  band  of  pure,  good  men. 
They  are  devoted  to  each  other,  and  Conference  is 
to  them  like  a  big  family  reunion.  They  have  toiled 
hard  through  many  privations,  trials,  sufferings, 
and  sorrows  for  a  whole  year,  and  now  they  have 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  67 

come  together  in  their  great  annual  meeting  to 
spend  a  week  or  more  in  each  other's  company. 
Now  let  care  depart  for  a  while  from  their  weary 
minds  and  rest  come  to  their  tired,  drooping  spir- 
its. And  permit  them  for  a  few  days  to  converse 
and  commune  with  one  another  in  a  free,  frank, 
friendly  way  about  the  achievements,  afflictions, 
toils,  and  trials  of  the  past  year,  and  do  not  grudge 
them  the  social  pleasure  and  religious  joy  which 
may  come  to  them  in  these  gracious  experiences. 
They  will  also  at  such  times  compare  notes,  discuss 
plans  and  methods,  form  resolutions,  make  prom- 
ises and  pledges  to  pray  for  and  assist  one  another 
to  be  better  and  become  more  useful  men  in  the 
ministry.  Then  that  the  preachers  should  come  to 
look  upon  Conference  as  a  grand  social  and  spirit- 
ual festival  ought  not  to  be  a  matter  of  much  won- 
der. 

And  if  this  scribe  mistake  not,  the  Conference  at 
this  session  elected  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
ference. He  now  witnessed  this  peculiar  ecclesias- 
tical proceeding  for  the  first  time,  and  it  made  an 
indelible  impression  upon  his  mind.  To  see  men 
voting  for  others  by  ballot  to  represent  them  in  a 
great  legislative,  or  law-making,  body,  and  that 
without  any  candidate's  name  being  placed  before 


68  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  house  for  the  high  honor,  made  him  feel  that  it 
was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  most  appropriate  way 
of  performing  a  very  sacred  and  solemn  service  for 
the  Church.  And  at  this  same  session  of  the  Con- 
ference he  observed  another  suggestive  custom 
which  they  seemed  to  follow  with  unswerving  faith- 
fulness— he  noticed  that  when  a  brother's  name 
was  called  out  from  the  roll  by  the  bishop  they 
went  into  a  formal  examination  of  his  character. 
In  connection  with  his  name  the  bishop  asked  the 
twofold  question:  "Is  he  blameless  in  conduct  and 
official  administration?"  In  answer  to  this  inquiry 
some  brother,  usually  his  presiding  elder,  answered, 
"There  is  nothing  against  him;"  and  then  his  char- 
acter was  passed  by  the  vote  of  the  body.  But  if 
complaints  or  charges  were  made  or  presented 
against  him  the  Conference  took  the  necessary 
steps  at  once  to  investigate  the  matter  by  arrest- 
ing his  character  and  putting  him  on  trial;  and  at 
that  time  all  trials  were  conducted  in  open  Confer- 
ence, and  not  before  committees  as  now.  The  fact 
that  they  were  so  strict  in  their  dealings  with  their 
members  and  those  who  were  seeking  to  become 
such  presented  itself  in  a  very  favorable  light  to 
his  attention.  Witnessing  all  this  enabled  him  to 
properly  appreciate  and  fully  estimate  both  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  69 

precious  privilege  and  exalted  honor -of  belonging 
to  an  organization  of  such  pure,  conscientious, 
good  men.  He  also  felt  a  painful  sense  of  his  un- 
worthiness  to  have  a  place  among  them;  and,  recog- 
nizing his  utter  incompetency  to  live  up  to  the  de- 
mands and  obligations  of  his  high  and  holy  calling 
in  his  own  strength  and  power,  he  began  afresh  to 
pray  in  deep  humility  of  spirit  to  his  Father  in 
heaven  to  bless  and  sanctify  him  and  keep  him 
blameless  to  the  end  of  his  ministerial  life. 

And  so  it  is  that  when  a  Methodist  minister  goes 
forth  to  the  work  to  which  the  bishop  has  appoint- 
ed him  he  carries  along  with  him  the  full  indorse- 
ment of  his  entire  Conference,  which  commends 
him  to  the  confidence  and  acceptance  of  the  whole 
Church  and  everybody  else  in  the  world  as  well. 
What  a  rare  recommendation  and  peculiar  trust  for 
anybody  to  have  and  enjoy!  And  so  far  as  he 
knows  it  is  confined  to  Methodism,  and  found  no- 
where else.  He  admires  the  unique  custom,  and 
willingly  submits  himself  to  it. 

NOW  at  the  close  of  the  Conference,  when  the 
bishop  read  out  the  appointments,  a  little 
incident  took  place  which  gave  him  sharp  anxiety 
for  a  few  moments.    It  was  this:  His  name  was  not 


70  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

read  out  in  connection  with  any  charge.  This  oc- 
currence made  him  think  that  he  was  left  out,  and 
his  distress  was  almost  fatal  to  him.  And  some 
brethren  who  were  sitting  near  him,  perceiving 
his  terrible  agony,  asked  him  what  was  the  matter, 
and  on  learning  from  him  the  cause  of  his  bitter- 
ness of  soul,  attempted  to  comfort  him  by  assuring 
him  that  such  could  not  be  the  case.  And  Dr.  F.  S. 
Petway,  one  of  the  presiding  elders,  kindly  went  to 
the  bishop  about  the  matter,  and  soon  returned 
with  the  welcome  tidings  that  his  name  had  been 
unintentionally  overlooked,  and  that  he  was  as- 
signed to  the  Montgomery  Circuit  as  junior  preach- 
er, with  Rev.  J.  B.  Anderson  as  preacher  in  charge. 
What  a  delightful  deliverance  that  precious  piece 
of  information  brought  to  him!  He  has  always  felt 
that  it  may  have  saved  him  from  immediate  suffo- 
cation. The  shock  to  him  was  so  fearful  that  he 
has  never  been  able  to  fully  recover  himself  from 
its  demoralizing  effects.  He  has  never  attended  a 
session  of  the  Conference  since  that  he  was  not 
afraid  that  he  might  be  dropped  and  left  without  an 
appointment.  Perhaps  one  reason  why  this  acci- 
dent so  mightily  affected  him  was  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  little  uneasy  and  apprehensive  anyway  for 
fear  that  the  Conference  had,  through  some  source 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  71 

unknown  to  him,  learned  something  of  his  unlawful 
and  desperately  daring  act  which  he  had  commit- 
ted in  baptizing  the  man,  an  account  of  which  he 
has  already  given  in  another  part  of  these  annals. 


THE  Montgomery  Circuit,  to  which  he  was 
sent,  was  just  below  Clarksville,  only  a  short 
distance  from  the  Asbury  Circuit,  which  he  had 
traveled  the  year  before.  He  went  straight  from 
Conference  to  his  work,  a  custom  which  he  has 
closely  followed  ever  since.  The  Rev.  Joseph  B. 
West  was  continued  on  the  Clarksville  District 
and  was  still  his  presiding  elder,  which  was  to  his 
greatest  liking.  He  continued  his  frequent  visits  to 
his  house.  They  loved  each  other  faithfully,  ten- 
derly, and  devotedly.  He  found  the  Rev.  Jerome 
B.  Anderson,  the  preacher  who  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  circuit,  to  be  a  very  learned  man,  an 
extraordinarily  able  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  one 
of  the  purest  and  most  devout  Christian  gentlemen 
that  he  has  ever  known.  He  soon  learned  to  love 
him  much  and  to  trust  him  implicitly.  They 
worked  in  perfect  peace  and  harmony  with  each 
other,  and  remained  close  friends  ever  afterwards. 
The  Montgomery  Circuit  offered  a  large  and  la- 


72  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

borious  field  for  the  two  itinerants.  It  was  about 
seventy-five  or  eighty  miles  in  length  and  about 
thirty-five  or  forty  miles  in  width.  Within  its 
bounds  there  were  twenty-eight  preaching  places, 
so  it  kept  the  two  preachers  busily  engaged  to  sup- 
ply the  people  with  the  gospel  every  two  weeks, 
each  one  making  a  complete  round  on  the  work  ev- 
ery four  weeks.  The  people  were  kind,  good,  in- 
telligent, well-to-do,  and  fond  of  going  to  church. 
So  we  had  a  fine  year,  all  things  considered.  The 
country  was  very  much  disturbed  on  account  of  the 
Civil  War,  which  was  going  on,  and  the  western  end 
of  the  circuit  lay  in  close  proximity  to  Fort  Donel- 
son,  and  the  entire  work  was  exposed  to  the  opera- 
tions and  occupancy  of  both  armies.  The  junior 
preacher  went  forward  by  the  order  of  the  senior, 
and  made  the  first  round  on  the  work.  The  expe- 
rience which  he  had  acquired  the  year  before  was  of 
incalculable  benefit  to  him  in  his  new  field  of  labor. 
He  visited  among  the  people,  prayed  constantly, 
studied  hard,  grew  steadily  in  grace  and  knowledge, 
and  made  some  progress  in  the  accomplishment  of 
good  in  the  charge.  He  went  to  Bethel  to  fill  his 
first  appointment  at  that  place,  which  was  situated 
in  the  midst  of  a  wealthy  community  only  a  few 
miles  from  Clarksville,  and  when  he  reached  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  73 

church,  which  was  a  good  brick  building,  he  was 
informed  of  the  fact  that  there  would  be  no  service 
there  that  day,  on  account  of  a  funeral  which  was 
to  be  held  in  the  community  over  the  remains  of 
a  young  soldier  who  had  accidentally  shot  himself 
in  attempting  to  mount  his  horse.  He  had  joined 
Col.  Woodward's  cavalry  command  just  a  few  days 
before,  and  was  starting  to  leave  his  home  to  report 
himself  ready  for  duty.  It  was  a  shocking  affair 
and  filled  the  neighborhood  with  grief.  And  as  he 
could  not  preach  at  his  own  appointment,  he  at- 
tended the  sad  funeral  service,  which  was  conducted 
at  the  young  man's  father's  house.  War  was  ra- 
ging all  over  the  country,  leaving  nothing  but 
wreck  and  ruin,  devastation  and  death,  suffering 
and  trouble  in  its  fiery  and  bloody  track.  But  not- 
withstanding all  this  affliction  and  misfortune  the 
people  displayed  a  ready  disposition  to  attend 
church  and  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  worship 
God.  True  there  were  not  many  young  and  able- 
bodied  men  to  be  seen  in  the  religious  assemblies, 
as  they  were  nearly  all  off  in  the  army,  but  the  old 
men,  women,  and  children  came  in  large  crowds. 
Their  poverty  and  distress  seemed  to  drive  them 
closer  to  God  and  duty. 

During  the  year — that  is,  the  Conference  year, 


74  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

which  means  from  one  session  of  the  body  to  the 
next,  and  the  Tennessee  Conference  nearly  always 
meets  in  the  month  of  October — the  old  Mont- 
gomery Circuit  was  blessed  with  glorious  revivals 
all  through  its  extensive  bounds.  The  Lord  was 
present  everywhere,  and  all  the  while  to  heal  and  to 
save,  to  kill  and  to  make  alive.  Saints  in  large 
numbers  were  refreshed  and  sanctified,  and  sinners 
in  multitudes  were  convicted  and  converted.  And 
then  remember  that  these  most  marvelous  demon- 
strations of  divine  favor  transpired  right  in  the 
threatening  presence  of  two  tremendous  armies  op- 
posing each  other  in  the  fatal  fire  and  fierce  flame 
of  battle.  Often  \vhile  listening  to  the  sermon  the 
congregation  could  hear  the  roll  of  the  drum  and 
the  shrill  whistle  of  the  fife  and  see  the  troops  on 
the  march.  On  the  sixth  of  February,  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-two,  Fort  Henry  fell  under  the 
heavy  bombardment  from  Commodore  Foote'si 
fleet;  and  on  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  same  month 
Fort  Donelson,  after  a  heroic  and  desperate  strug- 
gle between  both  the  land  and  naval  forces,  sur- 
rendered into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  with  thirteen 
thousand  prisoners.  However,  many  of  the  Con- 
federate soldiers  refused  to  be  delivered  into  the 
power  of  the  Federal  authorities,  and  made  their 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  75 

escape  from  the  fort  and  battlefield  after  the 
fighting  ceased,  and  others  could  have  followed 
their  example  if  they  had  chosen  to  do  so.  Nearly 
the  whole  Southern  army  could  have  marched 
away  in  good  order  if  they  had  only  resolved  to  do 
it.  After  these  things  there  were  gloomy  times  in 
Tennessee.  The  old  Volunteer  State  was  complete- 
ly in  the  possession  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  North- 
ern armies.  They  had  established  permanent  mili- 
tary posts  at  Fort  Donelson,  Clarksville,  Nashville, 
and  other  places.  But  in  the  midst  of  this  awful 
gloom,  which  hung  in  heavy,  dense,  impenetrable 
clouds  all  over  that  section  of  the  country,  and 
despite  the  consternation  and  amazement  which 
reigned  throughout  it,  the  clear,  unsullied  light  of 
life  and  salvation  streamed  forth  in  bright,  beauti- 
ful, hopeful  radiance  from  the  cross  of  Christ  and 
flooded  everybody  and  everything  with  the  fadeless 
splendor  of  heaven. 


BROTHER  ANDERSON  and  his  assistant, 
having  pledged  themselves  to  it,  went  right 
on  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  of  the  Son  of 
Man  as  if  unbroken  peace  were  reigning  every- 
where, without  the  disturbing  intimations  of  wars 


76  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

and  rumors  of  wars  anywhere,  and  the  people 
gladly  rallied  to  them — yea,  truly  they  came  "to 
the  help  of  Jehovah  against  the  mighty."  (Judges 
v.  23.)  And,  as  may  always  be  confidently  expected 
when  the  ministry  and  membership  of  the  Church 
consecrate  themselves  fully  for  their  sacred  mis- 
sion among  men,  the  work  of  the  Lord  prospered 
without  impediment  or  hindrance.  So  it  was  in 
this  particular  instance,  and  it  would  have  been 
strange  beyond  conception  and  overwhelmingly 
marvelous  if  it  had  turned  out  otherwise.  As  it 
was,  sinners  were  obliged  to  be  deeply  and  pun- 
gently  convicted  of  their  sins  and  powerfully  and 
thoroughly  saved  from  them.  At  these  meetings 
things  which  were  most  miraculous  occasionally 
occurred.  Protracted  services  had  been  going  on 
at  one  of  the  churches  on  the  circuit  for  several 
days  and  nights.  The  Church  was  very  much  re- 
vived, and  also  there  was  a  mighty  awakening 
among  the  irreligious  of  all  classes.  A  great  many 
had  already  been  saved  from  their  sins,  and  there 
were  large  numbers  of  others  who  were  still  com- 
ing to  the  altar  and  seeking  for  pardon.  Now 
there  was  a  good,  plain,  simple-hearted  woman 
that  was  constantly  present  at  all  these  exercises. 
Perhaps  she  did  not  miss  a  single  service  from  first 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  77 

to  last.  She  was  a  member  of  the  society  which 
worshiped  at  that  place,  and  was  an  earnest,  de- 
vout, humble,  consecrated,  Christian  woman.  But 
at  the  same  time  she  was  entirely  illiterate,  not 
even  knowing  the  letters  of  the  English  alphabet. 
Yet  she  was  a  person  of  tolerably  good  mind  and 
of  ordinary  intelligence.  Everybody  that  knew 
her  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  her  piety.  No 
one  acquainted  with  her  could  on  anything  like 
reasonable  grounds  for  a  moment  question  the 
genuineness  of  her  religion.  She  came  as  nearly  liv- 
ing fully  up  to  her  profession  of  saving  faith  in  Christ 
all  the  while  as  it  is  possible  for  any  frail,  imperfect, 
erring  child  of  mortality  to  do  in  this  life  of  temp- 
tation, trial,  toil,  and  trouble.  Her  neighbors  be- 
lieved implicitly  in  her  sincerity,  honesty,  and 
truthfulness  in  all  things.  She  was  a  faithful,  af- 
fectionate wife,  a  tender,  fond,  devoted  mother. 
Her  husband  was,  generally  speaking,  a  nice,  clev- 
er, intelligent,  cultivated  gentleman,  but  intensely 
skeptical,  irreligious,  and  wicked.  He  was  violent- 
ly and  uncompromisingly  opposed  to  his  wife's  re- 
ligious life.  Long  and  persistently  he  had  striven  to 
turn  her  away  from  her  devotion  to  the  Saviour 
and  the  service  of  the  Church.  But  she  had  quiet- 
ly and  resolutely  made  up  her  mind  to  die  rather 


78  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

than  deny  her  Lord  or  desert  his  cause.  He  was 
especially  anxious  that  she  should  not  attend 
this  meeting,  and  had  earnestly  endeavored  to 
keep  her  away  from  it.  Now  when  he  saw  that  she 
continued  to  come  against  his  expressed  wishes 
and  strong  dissuasions,  lie  most  positively  forbade 
her  leaving  home  any  more  for  that  purpose,  and 
he  backed  his  unjust  and  cruel  order  with  a  terri- 
ble threat.  But  as  the  day  wore  away  and  dark- 
ness came  on  she  determined  to  risk  all  and  go 
any  way,  and  she  did.  That  night  we  had  a 
great  time.  The  Lord  was  among  us  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  majesty,  grace,  and  glory.  The  woman 
was  a  little  late  in  getting  in,  but  she  was  there  in 
time  to  get  a  wonderful  blessing.  It  was  manifest 
to  all  present  that  she  was  unspeakably  happy. 
She  prayed  unceasingly  with  great  fervor  and  ear- 
nestness for  her  husband.  Finally,  in  the  midst  of 
the  sermon,  she  burst  out  praising  God  aloud.  Her 
face  was  excessively  bright  and  wreathed  with 
smiles  of  spiritual  and  heavenly  gladness.  She 
sprang  up,  clapping  her  hands  and  shouting  for 
joy.  At  last  she  closed  her  eyes  and  passed  into 
a  perfect  transport  of  religious  rapture.  Then  she 
sank  slowly  and  softly  to  the  floor,  and  fell  away 
into  the  sweet  visions  of  a  divine  swoon.  In  this 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  79 

condition  she  seemed  unconscious  and  completely 
oblivious  to  everything  about  her,  and  she  remained 
in  that  apparently  strange  and  abnormal  condition 
all  night.  A  great  many  people  continued  with 
her,  and  the  writer  was  among  the  number.  She 
'  was  not  removed  nor  disturbed  while  the  supernat- 
ural trance  into  the  ecstacies  of  which  she  had  been 
permitted  to  enter  lasted.  Her  husband  was  in- 
formed of  her  peculiar  condition,  and  came  to  the 
church,  which  was  not  a  great  distance  from  his 
house.  Her  countenance  was  very  variable  but 
uniformly  expressive.  She  was  cold  all  the  time, 
with  quick  changes  of  complexion,  now  very  pale 
and  then  immediately  afterwards  a  fiery  crimson 
hue  suffused  her.  At  times  her  face  was  radiant 
and  pleasant  to  look  upon,  but  at  other  times  it 
was  dark,  scowling,  and  painful  to  behold.  So 
passed  the  livelong  night  with  her.  By  ten  o'clock 
the  next  morning  a  large  congregation  of  people 
had  collected  at  the  church  and  about  it,  for  it  was 
impossible  for  them  all  to  get  into  the  house,  which 
was  itself  unusually  capacious  as  a  place  for  country 
folks  to  worship.  And  about  that  same  hour  she 
awoke  from  her  extraordinary  experiences  and 
scenes  and  began  to  try  to  talk.  In  the  beginning 
she  spoke  in  a  whisper,  rather  feeble  in  voice  but 


8o  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

quite  distinct.  But  as  she  advanced  her  voice  in- 
creased steadily  and  rapidly  in  strength,  volume, 
and  melody,  until  it  held  spellbound  every  hearer 
as  with  a  transcendental  fascination.  With  shud- 
dering- and  shrinking  she  spoke  of  the  horrors  of 
lost  souls  in  the  dark  and  doleful  regions  of  the 
damned,  upon  which  she  positively  declared  she  had 
looked.  Then  with  wonderful  fluency  of  speech 
and  elegancy  of  diction  she  told  of  the  unspeakable 
pleasures  and  endless  delights  of  the  redeemed  and 
saved  in  the  sublime  heights  of  heaven  and  of  glory, 
which  she  confidently  claimed  to  have  witnessed. 
If  she  had  been  a  fine  classical  and  thorough  bibli- 
cal scholar,  she  could  not  have  given  a  more  accu- 
rate account  or  grander  description  of  Tartarus 
with  its  dismal  woe  for  the  sinner  and  paradise  with 
its  exhaustless  weal  for  the  saint  than  she  gave  on 
that  hot,  sultry  summer  morning.  Her  thought 
was  splendid  and  her  language  beautiful.  There  was 
no  preaching  done  that  day  besides  what  she  did. 
No  need  was  there  for  any  other.  The  vast  assem- 
bly present  was  moved  to  tears  and  shouts.  When 
she  ceased  to  speak,  mourners  were  called,  and 
they  came  in  full  numbers.  They  seemed  simulta- 
neously to  make  a  rush  for  the  altar,  and  among 
them  prominently  was  her  husband.  None  was 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  81 

more  deeply  affected  than  he.  And  soon  he  was 
most  signally  and  triumphantly  converted  to  the 
religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  From  that  time 
onward  he  was  found  with  his  wife  praising  God 
and  working  for  the  salvation  of  sinners.  What  a 
mighty  and  mysterious  change  in  the  man!  It 
can  be  accounted  for  in  only  one  way — the  regen- 
erating power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  could  have 
brought  it  about,  lust  a  little  while  ago  so  un- 
clean in  mind  and  wicked  in  heart,  but  now 

"His  pure  thoughts  are  borne 
Like  fumes  of  sacred  incense  o'er  the  clouds, 
And  wafted  thence  on  angels'  wings,  through  ways 
Of  light,  to  the  bright  Source  of  all." 


BUT  while  all  this  good  was  going  on  at  that 
church,  Satan  was  also  there  putting  in  his 
work  of  unrighteousness,  and  his  unbounded  in- 
fluence for  evil  was  felt  by  unholy  men  and  dis- 
played in  their  atrocious  deeds.  Some  there  are 
who  think  that  prince  of  wickedness  is  ever  pres- 
ent where  good  is  sought  to  be  accomplished,  to  op- 
pose it.  And  something  of  this  kind  seems  to  have 
been  the  dominant  idea  in  the  mind  of  the  author 
of  the  book  of  Job  when  he  said:  "Now  it  came  to 
6 


i>2  SCNSHINE  AXD  SHADE  IN 

pass  on  the  clay  when  the  sons  of  God  came  to 
present  themselves  before  Jehovah  that  Satan  also 
came  among  them."  (Job  \.  6.)  This  saying 
seems  to  be  as  reliable  now  as  it  was  in  the  days  of 
that  grand  old  patriarch.  But  whether  it  be  a  true 
or  a  false  notion  that  the  devil  is  to  be  held  respon- 
sible in  a  large  or  little  measure,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  for  all  the  sins  that  men  commit  or  even 
any  of  them,  sure  it  is  that  some  men  do  perpetrate 
terrible  crimes  against  God  and  their  fellows  which 
it  would  be  far  preferable,  if  it  could  be.  to  as- 
cribe to  the  malice  of  a  demon  rather  than  be 
forced  to  attribute  them  to  the  deep  depravity  of 
humanity.  And  it  may  be  true,  at  last,  that  men 
are,  by  some  dark,  unknown  method  of  diabolical 
enchantment,  incited,  stimulated,  and  induced  to 
put  forth  their  powers  in  the  performance  of  bad 
and  desperate  deeds.  Who  has  been  able  yet, 
through  all  the  years  of  the  long  past,  to  show  con- 
vincingly to  the  contrary?  Surely,  if  such  a  thing 
can  l>e  done,  this  chief  source  and  head  champion 
of  all  wickedness  managed  to  instill  it  into  the 
hearts  of  two  men,  one  of  whom  was  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  services  of  this  meeting,  to  plan 
and  execute  one  of  the  most  shocking  and  sicken- 
ing crimes  that  has  ever  been  recorded  against 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  83 

fallen  man.  They  were  both  living  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  church,  and  right  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  these  happy  meetings  they  conceived 
horrible  murder  in  their  cruel  hearts  and  wrought 
it  out  with  their  bloody  hands.  Late  one  after- 
noon a  couple  of  gentlemen,  strangers  in  that  set- 
tlement, in  a  topless  buggy  and  driving  a  fine 
iron-gray  mule,  stopped  at  a  place  and  called  for  a 
bottle  of  whisky,  in  paying  for  which  they  displayed 
a  large  roll  of  money.  They  also  talked  very  free- 
ly and  in  a  boisterous  way  about  their  cash,  which 
made  the  impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
were  present  and  heard  and  saw  these  things  that 
these  travelers  had  plenty  of  coin  in  their  posses- 
sion. So  two  of  the  bystanders  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy to  murder  these  unwary  men,  who  spent  the 
night  in  the  community,  thus  rendering  it  easy  for 
them  to  carry  out  their  wicked  plot.  They  con- 
cealed themselves  sometime  during  the  night  in  a 
dense  thicket  of  briers  and  bushes  close  to  the  side 
of  the  road  to  wait  and  watch  for  their  opportunity. 
"Early  in  the  morning,  just  as  the  rising  sun  was 
flooding  the  earth  with  the  heavenly  splendors  of 
a  bright  and  lovely  day,  their  unsuspecting  victims, 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  happy  life,  drove  right  to 
the  fatal  spot  and  were  suddenly  shot  to  death  and 


84  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

robbed  by  these  heartless  desperadoes.  The  horri- 
fied neighbors  met  together  and  buried  their  man- 
gled bodies  near  the  gloomy  place  where  they  were 
so  brutally  killed,  but  afterwards  their  friends  and 
relatives  came  and  took  up  their  remains  and  car- 
ried them  away  to  their  distant  homes.  At  that 
time  all  civil  law  was  suspended,  and  there  was  none 
but  military  law  in  force.  The  Federal  authorities 
sent  out  a  squad  of  soldiers,  who  came  and  arrested 
the  criminals  and  carried  them  off,  but  soon  re- 
leased them  without  inflicting  punishment  upon 
them  for  the  nefarious,  cowardly,  and  dastardly 
deed  which  they  had  committed  openly  against 
God  and  man  and  in  defiance  of  all  law,  human  and 
divine. 

"Blood,  though  it  sleeps  a  time,  yet  never  dies ; 
The  gods  on  nmrd'rers  fix  revengeful  eyes." 

LATE  in  the  summer  the  preachers  concluded 
to  take  a  week  or  two  to  rest  themselves  up 
in,  and  they  agreed  to  meet  and  hold  a  protracted 
meeting  at  a  certain  church  on  the  circuit.  On 
Friday  evening  before  the  meeting  was  to  begin 
they  reached  the  neighborhood.  The  young 
preacher,  learning  that  the  senior  had  gone  on 
ahead  of  him,  and  that  he  was  lodged  at  a  house 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  85 

well  known  to  both  of  them  for  its  cleverness,  hos- 
pitality, and  comfort,  for  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
putting  up  there,  decided  to  have  a  little  fun  at  his 
associate's  expense;  and  he  knew  that  this  would 
be  easily  worked,  as  there  was  a  trustworthy  rumor 
abroad  in  the  disturbed  community  that  the  Fed- 
eral troops  were  camping  close  by  and  likely  at  any 
moment  to  make  a  raid  through  that  part  of  the 
country.  Now  the  senior  had  been  talking  some- 
thing about  boarding  behind  the  butt  end  of  a  mus- 
ket if  special  things  which  he  did  not  fancy  were 
kept  up;  he  had  also  loudly  hinted  at  times  that  he 
might  raise  a  company  of  recruits  in  the  circuit  and 
lead  them  in  the  Confederate  service  if  some  an- 
noyances which  were  forced  upon  him  were  not 
stopped.  In  view  of  these  matters,  the  junior  had 
some  curiosity  to  test  his  courage  and  bravery,  and 
he  considered  that  an  opportune  time  was  now  at 
hand  to  do  it,  such  as  might  not  occur  again.  So 
he  stopped  on  the  way,  took  supper  with  a  friend, 
and  tarried  with  him  until  after  dark;  then  rode  up 
to  the  gate  in  front  of  the  house  where  the  senior 
was  quietly  and  pleasantly  situated,  chatting  away 
at  a  free  and  lively  rate  with  the  good  family,  and 
hallooed  aloud,  which  soon  arrested  attention  and 
brought  the  landlord  to  the  door  to  answer  the  call, 


86  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

and  just  as  he  appeared  the  junior,  changing  his 
voice  and  affecting  the  role  of  an  officer  in  the  army, 
commanded  his  soldiers  to  surround  the  house  so 
that  no  one  could  escape,  and  then  inquired  in  an 
authoritative  manner  whether  a  man  by  the  name 

of (calling  the  senior's  name)  was  there  or  not, 

which  frightened  him,  and  he  immediately  gave  the 
alarm  to  those  within  that  the  Yankees  were  there 
after  the  preacher.  This  was  notice  enough  for 
him,  and  forthwith  he  took  a  hasty  departure,  not 
even  stopping  to  bid  the  family  farewell,  but  dashed 
headlong  out  at  the  back  door  and  rushed  in  the 
darkness  through  the  back  yard  to  seek  safety  in 
some  secluded  and  secure  retreat.  At  this  trying 
juncture  the  junior  made  himself  known,  and  order 
and  quietude  were  at  last  restored,  and  the  young 
preacher  had  abundant  cause  to  regret  his  rash- 
ness and  folly,  as  he  received  vastly  more  than  a 
mere  gentle  reminder  from  all  concerned  of  the 
open  fact  that  it  was  no  time  nor  occasion  for  the 
thoughtless  indulgence  of  any  such  wicked  and 
dangerous  foolishness.  He  had  not  the  slightest 
disposition  to  repeat  the  efficient  test,  as  he  felt 
pretty  well  satisfied  about  the  valor  and  daring  of 
the  senior,  which  had  been  strikingly  exemplified 
on  that  very  occasion. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LITE.  87 

THE  junior  did  not  succeed  in  his  pulpit  ef- 
forts to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  in  his 
congregations.  For  instance,  there  was  at  one  of 
the  churches  on  the  circuit  a  large,  corpulent  lady 
about  fifty  years  of  age  who  was  fond  of  long  ser- 
mons; while  his  discourses,  even  the  most  lengthy 
of  them,  only  required  about  twenty  minutes  in 
their  delivery.  On  a  certain  occasion,  when  he  had 
filled  an  appointment  at  that  place,  this  fat  and 
jolly  old  sister  came  briskly  fonvard  and  told  him 
curtly,  flatly,  and  frankly  that  he  had  better  pull  up 
and  go  home  to  his  mother,  and  by  way  of  encour- 
aging him  to  act  at  once  upon  her  bold  advice  she 
said  to  him:  "You  can't  never  make  a  preacher  in 
a  thousand  years,  because  you  haven't  got  sense 
enough."  Then  she  continued  in  a  loud,  sharp,  im- 
patient tone  of  voice  to  reprimand  him  more  se- 
verely for  his  deplorable  incompetency  for  making 
a  preacher  of  himself,  and  finally  closed  by  saying: 
"Why,  after  I  come  all  the  way  from  home  over 
here  to  hear  you  preach,  long  before  I  can  begin  to 
get  rested  you  are  done,  because  you  don't  know 
anything  to  say  that's  worth  listening  to  no  how." 
The  church  was  about  one  mile  from  her  house. 
Now  this  rather  rough  and  depreciatory  tirade  of 
rebuke  naturally  put  a  bit  of  mischief  into  the 


88  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

young  preacher's  head,  so  he  determined  to  get 
even  with  that  plain,  pious,  self-confidential  mother 
in  Israel,  if  he  possibly  could  do  it,  for  her  preferred 
cruel  kindness.  But  to  accomplish  his  design  he 
was  obliged  to  call  in  help  outside  his  own  re- 
sources, and  he  was  not  long  in  maturing  his  pur- 
poses and  arranging  his  plans  for  wreaking  venge- 
ance upon  her.  There  lived  in  that  community  a 
brother  who  had  sound  lungs  and  a  strong  voice 
and  who  had  a  great  admiration  for  his  singing 
powers.  True,  he  was  not  much  in  demand  for  that 
sort  of  work,  but  still  he  was  always  more  than 
willing  to  do  his  best,  and  so  his  services  were  soon 
engaged.  He  agreed  to  meet  the  junior  on  his 
next  regular  day  at  that  place,  and,  after  singing 
two  or  three  songs  of  his  own  selection  as  a  volun- 
tary contribution  to  the  music,  he  was  to  sing  be- 
fore the  first  prayer 

"Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken, 
All  to  leave  and  follow  thee," 

which  contains  exactly  forty-eight  lines,  and  after 
the  prayer  he  was  to  sing 

"And  let  our  bodies  part, 
To  diff'rent  climes  repair," 

which  is  of  equal  length  with  the  first  hymn;  then 
at  the  close  of  the  sermon  he  was  to  sing 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  89 

"Servant  of  God,  well  done ! 

Rest  from  thy  loved  employ," 

which,  like  the  other  two,  has  forty-eight  lines. 
The  junior  was  to  read  for  his  first  lesson  the  one 
hundred  and  nineteenth  psalm,  which  consists  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six  verses;  and  for  his 
second  lesson  he  was  to  use  the  first  chapter  of  St, 
Luke's  gospel,  which  has  eighty  verses  in  it.  His 
intention  was,  after  these  things  to  pray  a  very  long 
prayer,  and  then  to  harangue  for  about  one  hour 
and  a  half  from  various  texts  of  Scripture  which  he 
had  selected  to  be  employed  just  as  he  had 
need  of  them.  He  attempted  to  carry  the  pro- 
gramme out,  and  all  worked  very  well  until  he  came 
to  the  preaching,  and  as  he  announced  his  first 
Scripture  as  a  text  every  thought  seemed  suddenly 
to  fade  from  his  mind,  and  no  word  of  utterance 
could  be  coaxed  to  his  tongue.  He  was  for  the 
time  being  both  perfectly  blank  and  completely 
dumb — not  a  syllable  did  he  speak,  nor  a  sound 
did  he  make  further  than  to  read  the  text  several 
times  over  in  a  slow,  hesitating,  doubtful  way.  He 
came  out  of  the  sacred  desk  that  day  in  much  con- 
fusion of  mind  and  profound  humility  of  soul,  and 
feeling  very  nearly  convinced  from  his  own  painful 
experience  that  the  old  woman's  poor  opinion  of 


90  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

his  meager  and  mean  abilities  was  about  to  be 
proven  dangerously  near  the  truth  by  his  own  mis- 
erable performance. 


BUT  at  last  the  year,  with  its  joys  and  sorrows, 
its  toils  and  triumphs,  was  rapidly  winding 
to  a  close,  and  the  time  was  fast  approaching  for 
the  preachers  to  take  their  leave  of  the  people  for 
Conference,  which  they  did  with  real  reluctance,  for 
they  felt  that  they  were  tearing  themselves  away 
from  many  true  and  devoted  friends.  They  had 
had  a  most  pleasant  and  very  prosperous  year,  but 
the  coming  hour  of  departure  was  peculiarly  pain- 
ful to  the  young  preacher  for  the  particular  reason 
that  he  had  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  young 
lady  living  within  the  limits  of  the  work  to  whom 
he  was  very  tenderly  attached.  He  providentially 
met  with  her  for  the  first  time  in  life  on  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,  on  horseback  in  the  road  about  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  She  and  her  younger  sister  were 
riding  out  for  pleasure.  He  was  introduced  to  them 
by  their  father.  She  was  a  perfect  brunette,  toler- 
ably tall,  rather  slender,  very  erect,  with  black, 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  91 

glossy  hair,  dark,  radiant,  soft,  confiding  eyes,  rosy 
cheeks,  lit  up  with  a  happy  smile  of  innocency  and 
purity,  and  a  small  mouth  with  calm,  ruddy  lips, 
closing  bewitchingly  over  a  full  set  of  smooth, 
regular,  beautiful  teeth  as  white  as  ivory.  That 
afternoon  she  presented  a  superb  scene.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  full  black  riding  habit,  with  a  little 
black  velvet  cap  adorned  with  an  elegant  white 
plume  on  her  head,  and  mounted  upon  a  splen- 
did, large,  roan  horse.  The  lovely  picture  could 
never  fade  from  the  young  preacher's  fascinated 
and  captivated  heart. 

"Love,  thou  hast  every  bliss  in  store — 
'Tis  friendship,  and  'tis  something  more ; 
Each  other  every  wish  they  give — 
Not  to  know  love  is  not  to  live." 


ON  the  fifteenth  of  October,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  the  Tennessee  Confer- 
ence came  together  at  Cornersville,  a  splendid  lit- 
tle town  in  Marshall  County,  not  far  from  the  point 
where  some  fine  and  fertile  counties  connect, 
whence  it  gets  its  suggestive  name,  and  disbanded 
on  the  twentieth  day  of  the  same  month.  This 
was  a  short  session  of  the  body.  The  unhappy  Civ- 


92  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

il  War  was  now  in  full  blast,  with  all  its  fury,  and 
pouring  its  vast  horrors  upon  the  distressed  and 
defenseless  people.  The  bishop  appointed  to  hold 
the  Conference  found  it  impossible  for  him  to  get 
there,  so  the  brethren  elected  John  B.  McFerrin, 
D.D.,  one  of  their  most  distinguished  and  most 
popular  members,  as  chairman  to  preside  over  it, 
which  he  did,  giving  perfect  satisfaction  to  all, 
both  in  the  chair  and  in  the  cabinet.  The  writer, 
in  company  with  the  Rev.  Joseph  B.  West,  his  pre- 
siding elder,  made  the  entire  trip  from  Clarksville 
to  the  seat  of  the  Conference  on  horseback.  But 
the  journey  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles  was 
made  pleasantly  and  in  good  time,  as  they  were 
both  mounted  on  excellent  saddle  animals.  They 
took  their  time  and  stopped  often  on  the  way  with 
friends,  who  gladly  entertained  them  and  gave 
them  much  comfort  and  cheer.  The  Conference 
was  a  little  thin  in  its  attendance,  so  many  of  the 
preachers  were  in  the  army;  but  still  the  session 
was  a  very  entertaining  and  instructive  one,  espe- 
cially to  the  young  preacher  from  the  Montgom- 
ery Circuit.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  all  of  its 
proceedings.  He  was  before  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  examine  the  class  of  the  second  year, 
was  passed  by  them,  elected  to  deacon's  orders, 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  93 

and  admitted  into  full  connection  in  the  Confer- 
ence. But  as  there  was  no  bishop  present,  he  could 
not  be  ordained  during  the  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence. However,  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Joshua 
Soule  on  the  fifth  day  of  July,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four,  there  being  present  at  the  time 
no  one  except  the  Rev.  William  M.  Green,  who  had 
gone  with  him  for  that  purpose.  The  bishop 
was  very  old  and  quite  feeble,  but  he  managed  to 
get  through  with  the  sacred  ceremony,  in  an  im- 
pressive manner,  which  was  performed  in  his  own 
house,  and  at  the  end  of  it  he  said  in  a  solemn  and 
dignified  tone  of  voice  to  the  newly  constituted 
deacon:  "Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no 
man  take  thy  crown."  (Rev.  iii.  n.)  He  is  still 
trying  to  obey  the  divine  injunction. 


WHEN   the   appointments   were  announced, 
he  was  read  out  on  the  Centerville  Circuit 
as  preacher  in  charge.     This  was  an  important 
change  in  his  itinerant  life.    Hitherto  he  had  been 

placed  under  the  care  and  guidance  of  an  older  and 

• 

more  experienced  minister,  but  now  he  was  intrust- 
ed with  the  management  of  a  charge,  and  made  re- 
sponsible for  the  results  of  the  same.  He  went  on 


94  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

to  his  work  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  reach  it.  He 
found  it  a  fine  field  of  labor;  the  people  were  kind, 
clever,  and  as  hospitable  as  they  could  be.  He  re- 
mained with  them  an  entire  year.  His  ministry  was 
successful  and  satisfactory;  he  had  glorious  revivals 
all  round  the  circuit.  The  Churches  were  baptized 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  and 
many  souls  were  happily  converted  to  God.  But 
that  whole  section  of  the  country  was  completely 
torn  up  by  the  war,  which  was  raging  there  with  all 
its  fury  and  violence.  Business  of  every  sort  was 
suspended.  The  people  could  not  even  farm  with 
any  assurance  of  being  allowed  to  reap  the  benefit 
of  the  toil  of  their  hands.  Guerrilla  parties,  holding 
connection  with  neither  army,  were  continually 
passing  through  the  country,  committing  all  sorts 
of  depredations,  even  destroying  the  lives  of  the 
people  as  well  as  depriving  them  of  all  that  they 
possessed  in  the  way  of  this  world's  goods.  They 
had  so  reduced  the  citizens  that  they  were  scarcely 
able  to  live  at  all,  and  these  general  misfortunes  of 
course  brought  the  preacher  into  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, and  so  he  found  it  necessary,  in  order 
that  he  might  procure  a  bare  living,  to  supprement 
his  salary  by  teaching  a  school,  which  he  succeeded 
in  making  up  within  the  limits  of  his  work.  Now 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  95 

at  the  end  of  that  year  the  Conference  could  not 
come  together  in  its  annual  meeting,  but  the  pre- 
siding elder,-  Rev.  Simon  Peter  Whitten,  called  the 
preachers  together  at  a  convenient  point  in  the  dis- 
trict in  the  month  of  October,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-three,  and  reappointed  them  to  their 
work  for  another  year;  and  this  scribe  remained  in 
charge  of  the  Centerville  Circuit,  in  obedience  to 
that  arrangement,  until  he  was  fully  convinced  that 
he  could  do  no  good  for  himself  or  others  by  con- 
tinuing longer  in  that  relation.  He  then  deter- 
mined to  sever  his  connection  with  the  charge  as 
its  pastor,  and,  soon  after  forming  this  resolution, 
he  returned  to  Clarksville  and  settled  once  more 
among  his  old  friends.  He  made  up  a  school  in  the 
country  adjacent  to  that  city,  and  while  engaged 
in  teaching  did  not  fail  to  preach  every  Sunday 
somewhere.  And  in  the  month  of  October,  eight- 
een hundred  and  sixty-four,  as  the  Annual  Confer- 
ence was  still  unable  to  meet  in  its  regular  session, 
the  Rev.  Joseph  B.  West,  presiding  elder  of  the  dis- 
trict, in  stationing  his  own  preachers  also  took  au- 
thority over  the  writer,  and  placed  him  in  charge  of 
the  New  Providence  Station;  and  he  at  once  aban- 
doned teaching,  that  he  might  give  himself  up 
wholly  to  preaching.  During  that  year  he  con- 


96  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

ducted  a  great  revival,  in  which  much  good  was  ac- 
complished and  many  people  were  saved  from 
their  sins  and  added  to  the  Church. 


BUT  during  these  three  eventful  years  some 
amusing  and  alarming  incidents  occurred 
in  the  changing  and  stirring  life  of  the  preacher. 
While  on  the  Centerville  Circuit,  as  already  indi- 
cated, the  community  in  which  he  lived  was  the 
scene  of  constant  disturbance,  bloodshed,  and  un- 
controllable excitement.  Marauding  bands,  be- 
longing to  neither  of  the  great  armies,  were  mak- 
ing frequent  raids  through  the  country,  murdering 
the  innocent  people  and  robbing  them  of  what  they 
had  to  live  on,  which  made  things  conspicuously 
unsafe  and  constantly  unpleasant.  But  occasion- 
ally detachments  from  the  regular  army  were  sent 
out  to  relieve  the  citizens  of  these  distressing  dep- 
redations. There  came  a  commission  of  this  sort 
to  Centerville,  which  was  the  capital  of  Hickman 
County,  and  the  preacher  happened  just  at  that 
time  to  be  stopping  in  the  town  with  a  particular 
friend,  and  so  became  exposed  to  the  invasion. 
He  saw  the  Federal  troops  when  they  dashed  up 
and  opened  fire  on  some  of  these  bloody  despera- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  97 

does  who  chanced  to  be  there  on  mischief  fatally 
bent.  And  seeing  some  of  them  shot  down,  he,  not 
knowing  where  the  thing  would  be  likely  to  stop, 
hastily  concluded  that  he  had  better  right  away 
seek  safer  and  more  quiet  quarters  if  he  ever  ex- 
pected to  find  them.  And  with  no  parley  about 
the  matter  he  ran  down  to  the  barn,  where  his  horse 
was  nicely  ensconced  in  a  comfortable  stall  feasting 
himself  on  delicious  hay,  hurriedly  bridled  him,  but 
did  not  have  time  to  put  the  saddle  on  him;  and  so 
he  mounted  him  on  his  bare  back  and  began  a  terri- 
ble retreat  in  regular  John  Gilpin  style.  Now  there 
was  but  one  way  for  him  to  pass  out  of  his  difficul- 
ties without  coming  into  contact  with  the  soldiers, 
and  that  was  down  a  steep,  rough,  rocky  hill,  and 
directly  across  Duck  River,  which  more  than  half 
girdled  the  town  with  its  flowing  stream  of  muddy 
waters.  So  he  dashed  off  at  breakneck  speed, 
without  the  least  regard  to  rocks,  stumps,  gullies, 
ditches,  hills,  or  rivers,  and  never  even  checked  up 
until  he  had  put  at  least  two  long  miles  between 
himself  and  the  enemy.  After  making  a  most 
risky  and  perilous  run,  he  began  to  think  seriously 
about  closing  the  panicky  stampede,  so  he  com- 
menced reining  'his  flying  steed  down  until  at  last 
he  stood  still,  panting,  puffing,  and  blowing,  at  the 
7 


98  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

gate  in  front  of  a  friend's  house.  At  a  hearty  invi- 
tation from  the  greatly  surprised  and  bewildered 
landlord,  he  summarily  dismounted  and  went  in 
for  a  happy  relief  and  some  much-needed  rest.  Did 
he  have  the  road  clear  and  all  to  himself,  or  was  he 
pursued?  Well,  a  few  men  followed  him  and  took 
several  random  cracks  from  their  guns  at  him  as  he 
was  doing  his  best  to  obliterate  space,  which  made 
him  feel  like  the  whole  of  the  United  States  army 
was  after  him  with  the  set  determination  of  run- 
ning him  down  and  catching  him  at  all  hazards  and 
costs.  True,  he  was  complimented  for  his  skill  and 
daring  in  making  such  a  desperate  flight  against 
the  unfavorable  conditions.  But  with  all  that  he 
was  in  a  considerably  demoralized  fix.  Perhaps  it 
would  have  been  better  for  him  if  he  had  stood  his 
ground,  facing  the  supposed  trouble,  rather  than 
fleeing  from  it  in  such  thoughtless  and  precipitant 
confusion,  but  he  felt  that 

"In  all  the  trade  of  war  no  feat 
Is  nobler  than  a  brave  retreat." 

BUT  before  leaving  that  country  it  seemed  as 
if  he   were   doomed   by   inexorable   fate   to 
meet  with  another  grievous  mishap,  which  gave 
him  a  good  deal  of  anxious  and  sorrowful  solicitude 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  99 

at  the  time  of  its  happening.  Everything  about 
there  got  to  be  very  scarce  in  the  way  of  supplies — 
provisions  were  running  low,  and  clothing  appeared 
to  be  giving  entirely  out,  and  while  he  could  still 
manage  to  get  enough  plain,  rough  diet  to  live 
on,  he  was  almost  destitute  of  wearing  apparel. 
How  to  get  his  wardrobe  replenished  drove  him  to 
his  wits'  end.  But  finally,  in  the  midst  of  his  dire 
extremity,  the  good  wromen  of  his  charge,  whose 
inventive  genius  and  constructive  resources  in  such 
affairs  have  ever  proven  to  be  exhaustless,  came 
together  and  put  their  heads  to  work  on  the  puz- 
zling problem,  and  soon  solved  it.  They  made 
him  a  nice,  decent  suit  of  clothes  from  goods  which 
they  had  carded,  spun,  and  woven  from  the  cotton 
and  wool  with  their  own  generous,  busy  hands. 
The  cloth  was  heavy,  smooth,  strong,  durable,  and 
comfortable.  They  dyed  the  jeans  for  his  coat, 
vest,  and  pants  a  bright,  beautiful  black,  and  they 
made  the  cuffs  and  collars  to  his  shirts  much  after 
the  primitive  fashion  of  his  early  childhood  clays — 
they  and  the  garments  to  which  they  belonged  were 
fastened  inseparably  together,  which,  by  the  way, 
is  not  an  objectionable  plan.  But  how  to  get  shoes 
and  hat  was  a  vexing  question.  However,  that 
was  soon  settled  satisfactorilv.  He  and  another 


loo  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

gentleman,  who  was  in  sore  need  of  these  things 
as  well  as  himself,  went  in  cahoot  with  each  other, 
killed  a  worthless  dog,  had  his  hide  tanned,  took 
the  skirts  from  their  saddles,  and  had  some  pretty 
fair  shoes  made  of  them.  They  then  bought  up  all 
the  raccoon  skins  in  the  neighborhood,  bound 
them  in  bundles,  each  one  taking  his  own  pack- 
age, fastening  it  securely  behind  him  on  his  horse, 
and  started  off  in  a  hilarious  mood  to  the  house  of 
the  hat  maker,  who  lived  across  the  country  on 
Beaver  Dam  Creek.  They  were  a  comical-looking 
couple  as  they  went  riding  along  the  road  chatting 
carelessly  together,  but  before  they  reached  their 
destination  they  had  the  bad  luck  to  run  up  on  a 
small  squad  of  Yankee  soldiers  coming  directly  on 
meeting  them.  This  put  a  sudden  and  unexpected 
termination  to  their  journey  toward  that  end  of 
the  road.  They  went  no  farther  in  that  direction, 
but,  whirling  their  horses  quickly  around,  they 
took  themselves  to  heedless  flight.  They  went 
splitting  through  the  woods  at  headlong  speed.  It 
never  entered  their  minds  in  this  race  from  start 
to  finish  to  look  after  or  take  care  of  the  bundles, 
and  wtien  order  was  at  last  restored  and  quiet 
reigned  again  they  found  that  they  had  scattered 
raccoon  skins  all  along  the  devious  and  dangerous 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  101 

line  of  their  marvelous  and  most  successful  ske- 
daddle. They  could  never  tell  how  far  the  Yan- 
kees pursued  them,  how  often  they  shot  at  them, 
nor  how  nearly  they  came  hitting  them,  but  they 
always  thought  of  it  as  a  terrible  chase  for  life 
and  death. 

The  good  women,  as  far  as  they  could,  compen- 
sated him  for  his  irreparable  loss  and  sad  disap- 
pointment by  making  and  presenting  to  him  a  cap, 
constructed  of  brown  jeans  with  comfortable  ear 
protectors,  and  an  ample  bill  to  shade  his  face  and 
eyes;  and,  while  heartily  appreciating  their  kind- 
ness, he  could  not  resist  the  full  conviction  that  a 
homemade  cap  can  hardly  equal  a  Stetson  hat  for 
looks  at  least. 

During  his  stay  on  the  Centerville  Circuit  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  emancipation  proclamation,  freeing 
all  the  negroes  in  the  United  States  of  North 
America,  which  was  issued  by  him  one  hundred 
days  before,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  Septem- 
ber, eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-two,  went  into  ef- 
fect on  the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-three.  That  was  one  of  the  darkest  days 
that  ever  dawned  upon  the  Southland,  and  its  re- 
sults were  dreadful.  A  very  wealthy  man  whom 
this  writer  knew  well,  who  had  vast  possessions  of 


102  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

lands,  supplied  with  furnaces  and  forges,  and  was 
the  owner  of  many  slaves  to  cultivate  and  run  them, 
walked  straight  into  his  parlor,  took  a  bottle  of 
laudanum,  drank  of  it  freely,  and  died.  The  whole 
country  was  plunged  into  poverty,  want,  suffering, 
and  pro  roundest  grief. 

WHILE  filling  the  pulpit  in  New  Providence 
Station  he  unwittingly  ran  upon  a  wicked 
snare  which  came  within  an  ace  of  costing  him  his 
life.  The  times  were  perilous,  everywhere  thickly 
set  with  dangers.  The  Federal  forces  were  garri- 
soned in  the  town,  and  had  been  since  the  fall  of 
Fort  Donelson.  One  afternoon  he  started  to  walk 
from  his  boarding  house  over  into  Clarksville, 
which  was  about  two  miles  away.  So  he  moved  off 
with  a  light  step  and  heart  lithe  and  gay,  not 
dreaming  of  anything  like  trouble.  But  in  making 
the  trip  he  was  obliged  to  pass  through  a  long 
bridge  which  had  been  built  across  Red  River,  a 
stream  flowing  between  the  two  towns,  and  which 
was  closely  planked  up  on  each  side  and  securely 
covered  overhead.  Now  in  approaching  this  bridge 
he  had  to  walk  along  upon  the  right-hand  side  of  a 
steep  hill,  while  just  across  a  deep  hollow  to  his 
left  arose  another  high  hill,  and  on  the  slope  of  it 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  103 

i 
stood  a  soldier  by  an  old  stump  with  his  rifle  up  to 

his  shoulder  ready  to  shoot.  He  made  a  shrill, 
whistling-  noise  to  attract  attention,  and  when  the 
preacher  saw  him  in  the  act  of  firing  on  him,  He 
pressed  briskly  onward,  and  at  the  crack  of  the 
gun  he  saw  the  red  flash  of  flame  and  the  little  whiff 
of  blue  smoke  as  it  curled  up  in  the  air;  then,  stag- 
gering across  the  pike,  he  fell  heavily  upon  the  side 
of  the  road.  He  felt  a  dull,  painful  sensation  pass 
over  him  as  if  he  were  shot  through  the  body. 
And  just  at  that  time  there  chanced  to  be  a  friend 
of  his  coming  through  the  bridge  with  a  couple  of 
horses  and  a  wagon,  who  came  on  speedily  to  his 
relief,  asking  him  if  he  were  hurt,  to  which  inquiry 
the  prostrate  preacher  replied:  "Yes,  I  am  shot 
through  the  chest."  He  had  already  attempted  to 
get  up  several  times,  but  had  fallen  back  as  often 
as  he  tried  it.  But  after  a  close,  careful,  and  thor- 
ough examination  his  friend  said,  laughing  at  him: 
"Why,  you  are  'mistaken.  You  are  not  hit  at  all; 
you  are  only  scared.  There  is  no  bullet  hole,  and 
there  is  not  a  drop  of  blood  to  be  seen."  To  which 
he  answered,  "If  I  am  not  wounded,  I  ought  to  be 
able  to  get  up  and  walk;"  so  he  made  an  attempt 
to  arise,  but  found  himself  utterly  unable  to  do  it, 
and  sank  back  to  the  ground  in  a  helpless  condi- 


104  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

tion.  About  that  juncture  another  gentleman 
came  to  his  rescue,  and  together  they  managed  to 
put  him  in  the  wagon,  and  carried  him  back  to  his 
foom  and  placed  him  upon  his  bed.  He  was  per- 
fectly conscious  all  the  while,  but  had  no  strength 
to  get  up  or  stand  upon  his  feet.  Those  about  him 
thought  him  frightened,  and  were  disposed  to  joke 
him  for  his  timidity.  He  himself  could  not  tell 
what  was  the  matter.  Finally  they  concluded  to 
seek  the  services  of  a  doctor.  They  sent  to  the 
fort,  which  was  in  the  limits  of  the  town,  and  called 
in  the  surgeon  to  see  him.  And  when  he  had  close- 
ly examined  him  he  coolly  remarked:  ''This  gentle- 
man is  badly  damaged;  for  while  the  bullet  missed 
him,  he  came  as  nearly  being  killed  as  a  man  could 
to  escape  at  all.  It  came  so  close  in  passing  the 
back  of  his  neck  that  the  shock  was  well-nigh  fatal 
to  him.  Men  are  sometimes  killed  in  battle  with- 
out being  touched  by  the  deadly  missiles  of  war, 
and  it  will  be  several  days  before  this  patient  can 
get  out  again.  Leaden  balls  may,  when  dis- 
charged from  guns,  come  so  close  to  a  man  at  cer- 
tain points  as  to  destroy  his  life  without  penetra- 
ting his  flesh.  And  this  came  near  being  the  des- 
tiny of  our  friend  here." 

The  soldier  who  did  the  shooting  mistook  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  105 

minister  for  another  man  whom  he  intended  to  kill. 
When  he  learned  of  what  he  had  done,  he  was  deep- 
ly mortified,  came  at  once,  apologized  to  his  nar- 
rowly escaped  victim,  remained  with  and  waited  on 
him  till  he  got  well.  The  old  adage,  "A  miss  is  as 
good  as  a  mile,"  will  hardly  prove  altogether  satis- 
factory to  one  coming  out  of  such  an  experience  as 
this,  for  he  must  feel  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
a  bullet  whizzing  through  the  air  a  mile  away 
would  be  more  comfortable,  and  agreeable  to  his 
notions  of  personal  safety  than  one  dashing  in 
such  perilous  proximity  to  the  back  of  his  neck  as 
to  stun  his  whole  body  and  render  all  its  members 
perfectly  useless  to  him  for  the  time  being. 


ON  the  fourth  of  October,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-five,  the  Conference  assembled  in 
Tulip  Street  Church,  Edgefield,  which  is  now  East 
Nashville,  an'd  closed  its  memorable  session  on 
the  eleventh  day  of  the  month.  It  had  failed  to 
meet  during  two  years  on  account  of  the  Civil 
War,  which  had  filled  the  whole  land  with  blood- 
shed, death,  poverty,  disorder,  suffering,  and  sor- 
row. And  although  the  great  struggle  was  now 
over  and  the  country  was  still  in  a  disorganized 


io6  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

condition,  yet  the  people  were  manifesting  a  will- 
ingness and  desire  to  return  to  the  peaceful  pur- 
suits of  life.  Many  of  the  preachers  had  suffered 
much  in  the  strife — some  of  them  had  fallen  on 
the  battlefield,  and  others  had  come  back  to  us 
wounded  and  maimed  for  life. 

And  in  despite  of  the  disasters,  dreadful  effects, 
and  destructive  demoralizations  of  the  soldier's  life, 
the  brethren  had  generally,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
maintained  their  integrity  and  fidelity  to  their  di- 
vine Maker  and  fellow-men.  They  manifested 
great  delight  and  overflowing  pleasure  in  being 
permitted  to  meet  with  one  another  again  in  their 
annual  convention.  It  was  truly  a  happy  time  with 
them  all.  The  writer  was  before  the  committees, 
and  stood  a  satisfactory  examination  on  the  two 
years'  studies,  and  was  elected  and  ordained  to 
elder's  orders.  Bishop  H.  H.  Kavanaugh,  of  Ken- 
tucky, presided,  and  Rev.  R.  A.  Young  was  elected 
secretary.  It  was  a  grand  and  happy  convocation 
of  the  preachers.  All  through  the  session  there 
were  extraordinary  manifestations  of  spiritual  and 
religious  power  among  the  brethren.  At  its  close 
this  scribe  was  read  out  to  the  Springfield  Station. 
Rev.  Joseph  B.  West  was  his  presiding  elder.  He 
was  well  pleased  with  his  appointment.  That  was 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  107 

one  of  the  grandest  and  most  successful  years  of 
his  entire  ministerial  life.  He  found  the  members 
of  the  charge  greatly  prostrated  in  their  finances. 
They  were  scarcely  able  to  live  themselves,  to  say 
nothing  of  their  inability  to  support  a  preacher; 
but  they  made  him  feel  welcome  among  them,  and 
went  right  to  work  with  him  in  all  his  enterprises. 
The  first  attempt  he  made  was  to  repair  the  church 
building.  It  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  Dur- 
ing the  war  it  had  been  neglected  and  much  dam- 
aged. It  required  some  time  to  complete  the  im- 
provements upon  it,  but  by  spring  it  was  finished 
up.  and  immediately  a  protracted  meeting  was 
commenced  in  it  which  went  on  for  three  months 
and  resulted  in  the  salvation  of  over  two  hundred 
souls,  the  most  of  whom  connected  themselves 
with  the  Methodist  Church. 


NOW  during  the  progress  of  this  great  re- 
vival he  had  an  impressive  experience  which 
was  of  immense  benefit  to  him  as  well  as  to  others. 
He  was  profoundly  exercised  about  the  meeting, 
and  while  reading  that  remarkable  passage  of 
Scripture  which  says,  "For  as  many  as  are  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God" 


io8  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

(Rom.  viii.  14),  he  said  to  himself:  "This  assurance 
is  of  general  meaning  and  universal  application, 
and  so  it  belongs  as  much  to  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus  or  to  a  member  of  his  Church  now  as 
it  did  to  an  apostle  or  a  saint  when  it  was  first 
written."  And  feeling  fully  conscious  of  the  fact 
that  the  whole  of  the  momentous  matter  rested 
with  himself,  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the 
advantage  of  it.  Then  he  kneeled  down  in  his 
room  with  the  determination  of  continuing  in 
prayer  until  God  answered  him  by  sending  his 
Holy  Spirit  into  his  heart  to  guide  him  that  day  in 
his  work.  He  besought  and  supplicated  him  to 
lead  him  to  the  place  where  he  ought  to  go  and  to 
teach  him  what  he  ought  to  say  and  do  that  the 
greatest  amount  of  good  might  be  accomplished 
through  him  and  the  clearest  and  most  signal  mani- 
festations of  the  glory  of  God  might  be  made  unto 
him.  He  struggled  and  communed  with  God  for 
several  long,  bright,  happy  hours.  Finally  the  Fa- 
ther said  unto  him,  "It  is  enough,  thou  hast  pre- 
vailed;" then  a  great  blessing  came  upon  him. 
His  soul  was  filled  with  unutterable  love  for  God, 
and  he  felt  a  consuming  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
his  fellow-men.  With  this  divine  grace  suffusing 
his  whole  being,  he  arose  from  his  devotions  and 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  109 

went  forth  not  knowing  whither,  but  willing  to  be 
"led  by  the  Spirit  of  God."  He  was  consciously 
assured  that  every  step  he  took  that  day  was  di- 
rected by  the  Lord.  As  he  walked  the  street  he 
felt  as  if  he  were  treading  the  air.  So,  happy  was 
he  that  everything  presented  to  'his  enraptured 
vision  was  a  heavenly  glow.  God  seemed  to  him 
to  'be  smiling  in  tenderest  affection  upon  all  his 
works.  He  went  walking  on  praising  his  blessed 
Saviour  in  his  gladdened  spirit  until  he  passed 
out  of  town  into  the  quiet  suburbs  beyond,  and, 
approaching  a  neat  little  framed  cottage,  freshly 
painted  a  snowy  white,  with  bright  green  window 
blinds,  sitting  far  back  from  the  road  in  a  beau- 
tiful grove  of  tim'ber,  which  was  splendidly  arrayed 
in  the  verdant  robes  of  springtime,  when  a  divine 
impulse  moved  him  to  turn  in,  and  without 
hesitation  he  did  it.  He  passed  over  a  long 
walk  from  the  little  gate  to  the  house,  and  just 
as  he  was  coming  up  to  it  a  young  lady  of  strik- 
ing appearance  came  out  to  the  porch  with  a 
broom  in  her  hand.  When  she  discovered  the 
strange  visitor  she  shrank  back  and  seemed  a 
little  embarrassed;  but  she  quickly  regained  com- 
plete control  of  herself  as  he,  advancing,  intro- 
duced himself  as  the  preacher  having  charge  of 


1 10  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  Methodist  Churdi  in  town.  Then  she  cour- 
teously invited  him  in,  and,  seating  him  in  the  hall, 
excused  herself  for  a  moment  and  passed  into  a 
room,  and  in  due  time  returned  with  her  mother 
and  younger  sister,  whom  she  gracefully  presented 
to  him.  And  when  she  was  asked  whether  she  was 
a  member  of  any  Church  or  not,  she  began  to  weep, 
and  responded:  "No;  none  of  this  family  make  any 
claims  to  a  religious  life."  This  information  came 
to  him  in  the  way  of  a  surprise,  as  they  were  evi- 
dently in  good  circumstances,  well-educated,  cul- 
tured, and  refined.  He  then  invited  her  to  go  with 
him  that  morning  to  the  prayer  meeting,  to  which 
she  answered  she  would  be  glad  to  go  if  her  sister 
would  go  with  her  and  if  her  mother  had  no  ob- 
jection. Her  mother  readily  replied  that  it  would 
please  her  for  them  both  to  go.  Soon  they  were 
on  their  way  to  the  church  with  the  preacher,  who 
was  still  in  a  spirit  of  ecstasy.  At  the  close  of  the 
service,  when  penitents  were  invited,  they  both 
arose  promptly  and  came  to  the  altar  and  were 
soon  rejoicing  in  a  happy  consciousness  of  par- 
doned sins,  and  it  was  not  long  till  the  mother 
was  also  converted  to  God  and  rejoicing  in  the 
church  with  her  daughters.  Our  Lord  will  work 
wonders  through  us  if  we  will  only  let  him;  but  he 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  1 1 1 

can  do  nothing  until  we  place  ourselves  completely 
in  his  tender,  almighty  hands,  to  be  guided  and 
controlled  by  him.  There  is  nothing  equal  to  a  spe- 
cial divine  unction  for  a  particular  Christian  serv- 
ice, and  infinitely  sure  it  is  that  nothing  can  be 
substituted  for  it  or  take  its  place. 

THE  year  was  closing  and  the  time  was  com- 
ing on  apace  when  the  preacher  would  have 
to  leave  his  people  and  be  off  to  Conference  and 
perhaps  sent  to  another  field  of  labor.  He  had 
spent  a  fine  time  with  his  charge.  They  had  had 
good  meetings,  which  had  strengthened  them  very 
much  every  way,  but  they  were  not  very  flush  with 
money.  It  was  immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
war,  and,  like  the  rest  of  the  South,  they  were  left 
in  a  depleted  and  dependent  condition.  And  then 
it  was  not  customary  to  pay  preachers  large  sala- 
ries for  their  services.  There  have  been  some  hap- 
py changes  in  the  Church  along  these  lines,  as  well 
as  many  others,  since  the  passing  away  of  those 
primitive  days.  Now  the  retiring  pastor  on  this 
occasion  felt  himself  in  sore  need  of  more  of  this 
world's  goods  than  he  could  command.  He  felt 
that  he  was  obliged  to  have  some  money  for  his 
own  comfort  and  the  glory  of  God,  and  he  knew  of 


1 1 2  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

but  one  way  to  get  it;  so  he  took  himself  to  prayer 
as  usual,  for  such  had  been  his  established  custom 
all  through  life.    But  some  one  is  likely  to  say:  "He 
certainly  did  not  pray  for  money!"  Yes,  but  he  did, 
and  why  not?     He  has  ever  prayed  for  temporal 
blessings  in  proportion  to  their  relative  value  and 
his  real  need  of  them,  just  as  he  has  prayed  for  spir- 
itual grace.     Does  not  his  Heavenly  Father  defi- 
nitely include  both  classes  of  benefits  in  his  exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  promise,  "Therefore  I  say 
unto  you,  all  things  whatsoever  ye  pray  and  ask 
for,  believe  that  ye  receive  them  and  ye  shall  have 
them?"  (Mark  xi.  24.)   Here  is  the  divine  platform 
for  prayer,  erected  bv  the  Master  himself,  and  it  is 
broad  enough  to  meet  all  the  reasonable  demands 
of  suffering  humanity,  and  is  infallibly  sure  in  its 
fulfillment,  if  the  conditions  are  properly  met.     So 
while  he  was  praying  in  his  closet  his  friends  in  the 
railroad    company's   employment   had   a   meeting 
among  themselves,  gotten  up  by  the  conductor, 
who  felt  that  they  were  under  special  obligations 
to  him  for  benefits  which  they  had  received  from 
his  ministry  during  the  term  of  his  stay  among 
them,  and  after  fully  canvassing  the  business  they 
decided  that  the  proper  course  to  pursue  was  not 
to  select  any  particular  present  for  him,  as  a  suit  of 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  113 

clothes  or  something  of  that  sort,  but  to  make  up 
a  purse  of  cash,  hand  it  over  to  him,  and  leave  him 
free  to  spend  it  as  he  might  choose  to  do.  And  in 
a  few  days  he  received  from  them  a  handsome  sum 
contributed,  as  he  was  informed,  by  the  conductor, 
engineer,  fireman,  brakeman,  section  boss,  and  all 
the  hands  working  under  him.  It  was  just  what  he 
was  needing,  and  the  note  accompanying  the  pres- 
entation was  as  precious  to  him  as  the  gold  itself. 
It  was  a  personal  verification  of  the  apostolic  af- 
firmation: "And  my  God  shall  supply  every  need 
of  yours  according  to  his  riches  in  glory  in  Christ 
Jesus."  (Phil.  iv.  19.) 


THE  Conference  was  in  session  at  Hunts ville, 
Ala.,  from  the  twenty-fourth  to  the  thirtieth 
of  October,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six. 
Bishop  McTyeire  was  in  the  chair,  and  Rev.  R.  A. 
Young  was  keeper  of  records.  This  preacher  was 
not  there.  That  is  the  only  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence during  the  forty-three  years  of  his  active  min- 
istry at  which  he  was  not  present  to  answer  to  his 
name  when  the  roll  was  called.  Perhaps  it  is  right 
that  he  should  give  the  reason  why  he  was  not  on 
hand  at  this  Conference — he  had  just  married. 


1 14  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

The  wedding  took  place  on  the  third  day  of  Octo- 
ber, eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  bride's  mother,  Mrs.  C.  H.  O'Neal, 
who  was  then  a  widow,  her  husband,  Mr.  William 
O'Neal,  having  passed  away  sometime  before.  The 
O'Neal  home  was  one  of  the  most  beaut  if  if  1  in 
Montgomery  County.  It  was  situated  in  the  midst 
of  splendid  scenery  and  surrounded  by  productive 
and  highly  cultivated  lands.  He  was  united  in  holy 
wedlock  to  Miss  Mary  Price  O'Neal,  Rev.  Joseph 
B.  West,  D.D.,  his  presiding  elder,  officiating. 
After  the  ceremony  was  over  there  was  an  elegant 
supper  spread  for  guests.  There  was  a  large  as- 
semblage of  the  friends  of  the  bride  and  groom 
present  on  the  brilliant  and  happy  occasion.  This 
year  he  was  appointed  to  the  Montgomery  Circuit, 
which  suited  him  very  well,  as  his  mother-in-law 
was  living  in  the  bounds  of  that  work.  He  had  a 
good  year — held  some  good  meetings  in  the 
charge.  He  \vas  not  a  stranger  in  that  field  of  la- 
bor, having  cultivated  it  before.  Most  of  the  peo- 
ple were  acquainted  with  him,  and  he  knew  them, 
so  their  associations  were  both  pleasant  and  profit- 
able. And  while  there  were  no  sweeping  revivals, 
much  good  was  accomplished. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  115 

LATE  one  afternoon  in  the  first  part  of  the 
month  of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven,  he  indulged  in  the  happy  fancies  of  a  short 
reverie,  which  he  recorded  in  his  scrapbook  and 
wishes  to  insert  here,  thirty-six  years  after  they 
were  first  written.  He  makes  no  change  in  them: 
"Here  I  am  sitting  at  the  window,  looking  out  over 
the  pendant  top  of  an  old  weeping  willow  tree  in 
the  yard  upon  the  gorgeous  clouds  as  they  float 
lazily  along  the  western  horizon,  and  musing  upon 
the  past.  It  is  a  grand  sunset  scene.  Surely  the 
hand  is  divine  that  paints  so  richly  and  beautifully 
the  vapory  clouds  and  sends  them  flying  athwart 
the  heavens  with  their  brilliant  colors.  So  I  rea- 
son with  myself.  But  now  the  sun,  the  great 
ruling  light  of  the  world,  has  completely  disap- 
peared from  our  hemisphere.  In  the  dim  but  quiet 
regions  of  Hesperus  the  day  is  dying.  Softly  the 
zephyric  breezes  sing  the  solemn  death  dirge. 
Darkness,  the  queen  of  night,  hastens  to  mount 
her  ebon  throne,  and  anon  she  will  wave  her  black 
scepter  over  the  land  to  fix  the  mantle  of  gloom 
upon  it.  O  twilight,  with  thy  strange  blending  of 
light  and  gloom,  how  sad  thou  makest  me  feel  at 
this  hour!  Thou  bringest  the  recollections  of  the 
past  back  to  me.  But  who  would  forget  the  past, 


1 16  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

who  would  cast  its  sad  and  sacred  relics  into  the 
oblivious  waves  of  Lethe?  Not  I.  With  all  its 
bitter  regrets  and  unfathomed  sorrows,  the  past  is 
ever  dear  to  my  'heart.  Here  come,  borne  upon 
airy  wing,  the  sports  and  pleasures,  the  glee  and 
joy  of  my  childhood  days.  Hail,  ye  fond  and  sweet 
shadows  of  my  only  perfectly  pure  and  innocent 
delights!  I  gaze  with  speechless  rapture  upon 
your  passing  angel  forms.  But  now  ye  are  gone.  I 
look  after  you  through  the  dust  that  is  settling  fast 
upon  the  path  of  life.  You  leave  me  for  a  moment 
with  the  feeling  of  loneliness  and  desolation.  But 
immediately  your  places  are  occupied  by  the  fan- 
cies and  phantoms  which  filled  up  the  dreams  of 
my  youth.  Ye  blaze,  ye  dazzle,  and  ye  explode. 
Your  shining  wakes  are  soon  put  out  with  drear 
darkness.  Ye  were  born  in  the  wild  revelries  of  an 
untrained  and  unrestrained  imagination,  and  so  ye 
have  gone  out  in  utter  despair.  Once  ye  charmed 
me  with  your  fair  delusions,  but  now  ye  amuse  me 
with  your  hopeless  failures.  Adieu,  adieu,  false. 
Hittering  train  of  adolescent  deceptions.  But  ye 
have  scarcely  fled  until  other  reflections  spring  up 
where  late  ye  stood.  Thus 

'Lulled  in  the  countless  chambers  of  the  brain, 
Our  thoughts  are  linked  by  many  a  hidden  chain. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  117 

Awake  but  one,  and  lo,  what  myriads  rise ! 
Each  stamps  its  image  as  the  other  flies. 

Each  as  the  various  avenues  of  sense 
Delight  or  sorrow  to  the  soul  dispense, 
Brightens  or  fades ;  yet  all  with  magic  art 
Control  the  latent  fibers  of  the  heart.' 

Now  I  behold  myself  struggling  amid  the  toils  and 
troubles  of  mature  manhood.  Disappointment, 
so  repulsive  to  frail  human  nature,  has  hardly 
hushed  its  thundering  sounds  upon  the  trembling 
shore  of  the  bygone  years  until  the  prophetic  ap- 
prehension of  misfortune  in  the  unknown  future 
fills  me  with  dread.  He  that  has  felt  the  power  of 
the  raging  storm  is  sure  to  shrink  from  the  angry 
cloud.  It  portends  to  him  a  furious  blast.  I  have 
already,  in  my  lifetime,  been  disappointed  more 
than  once.  But  this  has  been  all  the  better  for  me. 
Now  with  the  poet  I  can  say: 

'This  world  is  but  a  fleeting  show, 

For  man's  illusion  given ; 
The  smiles  of  joy,  the  tears  of  woe, 
Uncertain  shine,  uncertain  flow ; 

There's  nothing  true  but  heaven. 

And  false  the  light  on  glory's  plume, 

As  fading  hues  of  even; 
And  love  and  joy  and  beauty's  bloom 
Are  blossoms  gathered  for  the  tomb; 

There's  nothing  bright  but  heaven.'  " 


1 1 8  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

At  the  close  of  the  year  he  found  himself  loath 
to  leave  the  old  Montgomery  Circuit,  for  which  he 
had  formed  many  tender  and  lasting  attachments, 
but  he  had  learned  to  believe  that  a  true  itinerant 
would  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  go  wherever  the 
appointing  power  of  the  Church  might  see  fit  to 
send  him.  The  Rev.  Robert  S.  Hunter,  a  very 
brilliant  man  and  one  of  the  most  fascinating 
preachers  in  the  Conference,  was  his  presiding  eld- 
er in  place  of  Dr.  J.  B.  West,  whose  time  limit  had 
expired  on  the  district.  He  had  learned  to  admire 
and  love  the  new  presiding  elder.  They  worked 
in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other. 


OCTOBER  twenty-third  to  thirtieth,  eight- 
een hundred  and  sixty-seven,  found  the  Ten- 
nessee Conference  congregated  in  the  city  of 
Clarksville.  well  distributed  and  comfortably  pro- 
vided for,  with  the  most  venerable  and  beloved 
Bishop  Robert  Paine  in  the  chair  with  authorita- 
tive gavel  in  hand  to  keep  the  boisterous  brethren 
in  order,  and  with  Dr.  R.  A.  Young,  that  famous, 
ready,  and  expert  scribe,  at  the  table  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate account  of  things  said  and  done.  The  Bishop* 
was  a  general  favorite  with  the  members  of  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  1 19 

Conference  and  always  welcome  to  their  hospitality. 
And  this  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  the 
sessions  of  the  Conference,  as  the  new  laws,  enacted 
by  the  last  General  Conference,  were  being  tested 
and  going  into  operation.  Hence,  unusual  interest 
was  manifested  in  the  proceedings  of  it  by  all. 
When  the  appointments  were  announced  by  the 
Bishop,  it  appeared  that  the  writer  was  sent  to  the 
Lebanon  Station,  so  he  packed  what  he  had  in 
trunks  and  boxes,  took  his  wife,  and  started  for  his 
new  home  and  new  field  of  labor.  Dr.  David  C. 
Kelley  was  his  presiding  elder,  and  he  was  also 
president  of  Corona,  a  school  for  girls.  We — my- 
self and  wife — boarded  with  Dr.  Kelley  and  his 
mother,  Mrs.  M.  L.  Kelley,  of  precious  memory. 
We  had  a  pleasant  year,  and  in  some  respects  a  suc- 
cessful year.  We — I  say  we  because  my  wife  ac- 
tively assisted  me  in  all  my  work — added  to  and 
strengthened  the  membership  of  the  Church,  and 
made  some  important  and  much-needed  improve- 
ments on  the  church  building,  purchased  and  put 
in  it  a  fine  organ,  and  organized  a  splendid  choir. 
Dr.  Kelley  and  his  mother  added  greatly  to  our 
happiness  and  usefulness  that  year.  Their  house 
was  our  home — we  needed  no  better  treatment. 


120  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

A  MOST  marvelous  occurrence  came  under  our 
observation  that  year  which  was  deeply 
tinged  with  the  supernatural  and  mysterious.  Our 
doctor  was  at  the  time  treating  Mrs.  Jackson  in 
an  attack  of  sickness,  and  had  been  visiting  her 
constantly  for  several  weeks.  He  was  a  large, 
healthy,  stout,  fine-looking  man  and  an  excellent 
physician;  and  a  more  talented,  intelligent,  and 
conscientious  gentleman  could  not  have  been 
found  in  the  town.  He  came  up  into  our  room  one 
bright,  beautiful  morning  to  see  my  wife  and  pre- 
scribe for  her.  Usually  he  was  very  cheerful, 
pleasant,  and  talkative,  but  on  this  occasion  he 
was  sad,  serious,  and  silent.  And  when  his  patient 
asked  him  two  or  three  times  what  was  the  mat- 
ter with  him,  he  finally  answered  her  by  saying 
that  he  was  doomed  to  die  soon.  He  then  related 
a  remarkable  dream  which  had  come  to  him  the 
night  before.  He  stated  that  it  seemed  to  him  that 
he  was  alone  out  in  a  grand  cedar  grove,  standing 
by  a  dead,  limbless  snag,  when  a  bright,  lovely, 
shining  angel  dropped  down  from  heaven,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  him,  and  suddenly  there  sprang  up  from 
the  ground  a  rich,  green  vine,  loaded  with  the 
sweetest,  most  beautiful,  and  most  fragrant  flow- 
ers, and  covered  the  high  stump  by  him  all  over. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  121 

Then  the  celestial  messenger  said  to  him:  "Cut  the 
vine  off  at  the  roots."  Obeying,  he  took  a  small 
scalpel  from  his  pocket  and  clipped  the.  vine  close 
to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  when  immediately  a 
strange,  fascinating  voice  came  forth  from  it,  an- 
nouncing the  exact  date  of  his  death.  He  could 
not  be  diverted  from  it  nor  persuaded  that  it  was 
nothing  more  than  the  delusion  of  disturbed  sleep. 
And  when  the  fatal  day  came,  the  preacher  went 
in  haste  to  get  him  to  go  to  the  relief  of  his  wife, 
who  was  suffering  intensely;  but  he  said:  "I  cannot 
go,  for  I  am  sitting  here  waiting  for  death  my- 
self." After  being  strongly  urged,  he  consented 
to  try  to  go,  and  started  with  the  preacher,  who 
stopped  at  a  drug  store  for  something,  and  when 
he  came  out  and  looked  down  the  street  he  saw 
the  people  rushing  through  the  gate  into  the 
house,  and,  on  inquiring  the  cause  of  the  excite- 
ment, was  told  that  the  doctor  had  turned  into  the 
house,  remarking  to  the  landlady,  a  particular 
friend  of  his,  "I  have  come  to  die,  this  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end;"  and  sank  helplessly  upon  the 
carpet  under  a  deadly  stroke  of  paralysis,  and  died 
that  night.  Thus  his  dream  was  literally  fulfilled. 
Is  it  unreasonable?  If  it  is,  still  it  is  in  perfect  ac- 


122  SUNSHINE  .4ND  SHADE  IN 

cord  with  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures.     Elihu 
said  to  Job: 

"F.or  God  speaketh  once, 
Yea  twice,  though  man  regardeth  it  not. 
In  a  dream,  in  a  vision  of  the  night, 
When  deep  sleep  falleth  upon  men, 
In  slumberings  upon  the  hed ; 
Then  he  openelh  the  ears  of  men, 
And  sealeth  their  instruction." 

(Job  xxxiii.  14-16.) 

V 

^x 

BISHOP  H.  N.  McTYEIRE  called  the  Con- 
ference to  order  in  the  town  of  Shelbyville 
on  the  fourteenth  of  October,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-eight,  and  closed  the  session  by  reading- 
out  the  appointments  on  the  twenty-first  day  of 
the  same  month.  Things  on  that  particular  occa- 
sion moved  heavily  and  with  a  good  deal  of  fric- 
tion; but  still  they  moved — they  were  obliged  to 
with  the  man  who  was  at  the  head  of  affairs.  He 
was  born  to  lead  in  all  matters  of  that  sort,  or  fail- 
ing in  that  to  drive;  and  it  made  but  small  differ- 
ence with  him  which  course  he  was  forced  to  pur- 
sue. Hence,  there  was  considerable  dissatisfaction 
and  complaint  among  the  brethren  about  the  man- 
agement and  final  disposition  of  things;  but  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  123 

presiding  officer  did  not  seem  to  be  worried  in  the 
least.  Dr.  Young,  as  usual,  was  intrusted  to  make 
a  record  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the  body. 
The  writer  was  sent  to  Trinity,  near  Nashville. 
There  were  two  other  Churches  connected  with  it, 
Ewing's  Chapel  and  Ebenezer.  The  people  were 
generally  prosperous  in  business,  cultured,  kind, 
and  hospitable.  They  took  good  care  of  the 
preacher  and  his  wife.  The  great  and  good  Dr. 
A.  L.  P.  Green  was  the  presiding  elder,  and  lived 
in  the  bounds  of  this  splendid  little  charge.  We 
had  a  most  delightful  year.  Everything  in  the 
work  was  exceedingly  pleasant  and  gratifying,  ex- 
cept the  growth  of  the  Churches.  During  the  year 
we  conducted  but  one  revival  that  amounted  to 
much.  At  Ebenezer  we  held  a  meeting,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  conversion  of  thirty-five  or  forty  sin- 
ners and  the  consecration  of  many  saints.  Great 
good  was  accomplished  at  that  meeting. 

On  the  seventh  clay  of  August,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-nine,  there  was  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun, 
which  took  place  about  the  middle'  of  the  after- 
noon— the  only  phenomenon  of  that  kind  that  I 
have  any  remembrance  of  witnessing  in  my  life- 
time. It  was  so  dark  that  the  chickens  went  to 
roost.  Such  a  season  and  sight  could  not  fail  to 


124  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

awaken  a  deep  feeling  of  awe  and  reverence  in 
every  thoughtful  mind  and  impressive  heart. 


SOON  after  he  reached  the  appointment  he  had 
a  perilous  encounter  with  an  enormous,  ugly, 
black  bulldog,  whose  name  was  Jo.  He  had 
already  established  a  bad,  frightful  reputation  as  a 
vicious,  dangerous  brute,  always  ready  and  anx- 
iously waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  throttle  to 
death  any  visitor  or  caller  upon  whom  he  might 
leap  as  an  intruder  upon  his  master's  dominions. 
That  afternoon  it  was  cool,  cloudy,  and  chilly.  He 
had  but  recently  come  into  the  neighborhood,  and 
was  an  entire  stranger  to  the  people  and  was  going 
around  among  them,  introducing  himself  to  them 
as  their  new  pastor,  and  making  their  acquaintance 
as  speedily  as  he  well  could  do  with  convenience  to 
himself  and  pleasantness  to  his  parishioners.  When 
he  reached  the  place  of  conflict  and  walked  delib- 
erately into  it,  he  did  not  have  the  most  distant 
idea  or  faintest  intimation  of  the  long  and  hazard- 
ous struggle  which  was  so  close  at  hand  and  from 
which  he  could  not  then  possibly  escape.  As  he 
entered  the  gate  and  passed  up  through  the  yard 
to  the  door,  his  attention  was  rather  painfully  at- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  125 

tracted  by  the  infuriated  canine  terror,  which  came 
from  the  back  of  the  house,  moving  slowly  and 
determinately  to  the  little  gate  that  formed  the 
opening  in  the  fenc,e,  which  separated  the  front  of 
the  premises  from  the  rear,  and  began  violent  oper- 
ations to  force  himself  through,  that  he  might  com- 
mence his  murderous  intentions  upon  his  unknown 
and  unoffending  antagonist,  who  would  fain  have 
left  him  the  untried  field  all  to  himself.  And  in 
order  that  he  might  in  some  sort  impress  him  with 
his  sincere  desire  to  pacify  him  and  thus  avoid  an 
open  and  uncertain  collision  with  him,  he  stepped 
promptly  from  the  porch  and  started  for  the  street; 
but  this  movement,  instead  of  appeasing  his  burn- 
ing wrath,  had  the  contrary  effect  upon  him  and 
kindled  his  deadly  ire  to  the  highest  pitch,  and  he 
threw  himself  with  such  malicious,  thundering 
thugs  against  the  closed  gate  that  it  flew  wide 
upon  its  creaking  hinges,  and  turned  them  together 
to  try  their  strength,  courage,  skill,  and  endurance 
in  a  fair  and  fatal  hand-to-mouth  combat.  The 
preacher  instantly  decided  upon  his  tactics.  He 
threw  himself  entirely  and  fearlessly  upon  the  de- 
fensive, standing  firmly  erect,  without  uttering  a 
word  or  moving  a  limb;  he  looked  straight  into 
the  blazing,  glaring  eyes  of  his  implacable  foe, 


126  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

awaiting  his  malignant  assault,  and,  from  his  ma- 
neuvering, it  was  evident  that  this  was  the  first 
serious  obstruction  that  Jo  had  ever  run  upon.  He 
came  with  his  threatening  bristles  up,  and  a  deep, 
coarse,  guttural  growl  rolling  from  his  massive 
jaws,  which  boded  much  mischief  and  ill  to  his 
victim.  He  seemed  ready  for  work,  but  somehow 
he  paused  and  looked  a  little  surprised  and  rather 
disappointed  at  meeting  with  anything  like  oppo- 
sition from  any  source  whatever.  Heretofore,  he 
had  bounced  his  helpless  prey  upon  a  screaming 
run,  and  he  was  clearly  anxious  to  get  up  a  scene 
of  that  sort  on  this  particular  occasion;  and  when 
he  found  that  it  would  not  materialize,  he  entered 
reluctantly,  to  all  outward  appearances,  upon  his 
doubtful  battle.  He  manifested  no  disposition  to 
seek  an  undue  or  dishonorable  advantage  in  the 
engagement,  so  he  paid  no  regard  to  the  vulnerable 
members  of  the  body,  but  attempted,  from  start  to 
finish,  to  reach  the  throat;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
cautiously  put  his  right  fore  paw  upon  the  left 
knee  of  his  antagonist  and  literally  climbed  upon 
him.  And  when  he  had  succeeded  in  planting  both 
of  his  forefeet  upon  the  preacher's  chest,  his  nose 
was  on  a  dead  level  with  his  opposer's  throat;  he 
then  pushed  his  head  in  the  direction  of  his  objec- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  127 

tive  point,  but  tfhe  man  shot  his  left  hand  as  quick 
as  a  flash  of  lightning  into  the  dog's  throat.  This 
unexpected  happening  astonished  and  startled 
him.  Then  the  preacher,  to  prevent  an  accident 
from  coming  to  pass  which  might  prove  disas- 
trous to  him,  wound  the  chain  around  the  dog's 
neck  (he  was  carrying  a  heavy  block  and  long 
chain),  and  thoroughly  tested  the  strength  of  the 
leather  collar.  He  found  it  perfectly  safe,  so  he 
fastened  his  left  hand  into  it  and  drew  it  up  to  suf- 
focating tightness,  and  proceeded  to  punch  him 
in  the  sensitive  region  of  the  heart  with  his  right 
hand.  Now  he  knew  that  the  slugging  would  nec- 
essarily have  to  be  slow,  systematic,  and  sharp,  in 
order  to  insure  favorable  results,  and  therefore  he 
took  time  to  make  every  lick  count  for  its  full 
worth.  In  due  season,  Jo  began  to  show  symptoms 
of  succumbing  to  the  heavy  and  well-directed 
blows,  and  finally  the  choking  and  beating  brought 
him  to  the  ground  as  limp  as  a  rag.  The  preacher 
very  erroneously  and  indiscreetly  thought  that  he 
had  put  him  out  of  business;  but  he  soon  found  this 
to  be  a  big  mistake,  for  he  had  scarcely  lifted  him- 
self to  an  erect  position  until  Jo  was  also  struggling 
to  his  feet,  and  without  much  delay  they  renewed 
the  contest.  Jo  went  through  much  the  same 


128  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

process  that  he  did  in  the  beginning,  except  he 
moved  more  sluggishly  and  warily;  and  when  he 
got  himself  in  proper  position,  he  made  a  sudden 
dart  for  the  throat,  but  the  man  was  too  quick  for 
the  dog  again,  and  succeeded  in  landing  his  left 
choker  in  his  collar.  He  then  began,  as  he  had 
done  before,  to  put  in  terrific  blows  over  his  heart. 
Under  this  treatment,  Jo  soon  showed  signs  of 
weakening  and  went  down  to  earth  as  limber  as  a 
wet  hank;  but  he  determined  to  make  sure  work 
of  it  this  time,  so  he  continued  to  beat  and  choke 
him  until  he  was  convinced  that  he  was  temporarily 
dead.  At  last  he  turned  him  loose,  walked  away 
to  the  gate,  unlatched  it,  and  was  in  the  act  of 
passing  through  it  to  the  street,  when  the  desperate 
animal,  wild  with  rage,  landed  on  his  back  and 
shoulders  and  was  about  to  seize  him  by  the  neck, 
when  he  turned  suddenly  around,  and,  with  a  tre- 
mendous exertion,  shook  him  off,  and  he  would 
have  rolled  to  the  ground  if  he  had  not  caught  him 
by  the  tail  of  his  beaver  overcoat,  which  was  ripped 
by  the  violent  jerk  it  received  all  the  way  from  the 
bottom  to  the  top,  so  that  it  dropped  at  once  from 
him.  Then  the  tired  belligerents  stood  facing  each 
other  again.  At  first,  Jo  seemed  disposed  to  give 
up  the  struggle,  but  finally  changed  his  mind,  and 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  129 

went  to  work  more  resolutely  than  ever  for  blood. 
Without  much  resistance,  he  sought  and  obtained 
his  old  attitude,  and  he  clearly  expected  just  what 
he  got,  another  terrible  choking  and  pelting;  and 
pretty  soon  he  gave  the  whole  thing  up,  and,  in  the 
most  significant  and  suggestive  style,  fell  in  an  ut- 
terly helpless  mass  and  hopeless  condition  to  the 
dust.  The  preacher  then  conceived  bloody  mur- 
der in  his  cruel  heart,  and,  drawing  the  block 
up,  he  lifted  it  in  the  air  with  the  intention  of 
crushing  poor  Jo's  head  with  it;  but  just  then 
he  chanced  to  catch  a  good  glimpse  of  the  sub- 
dued animal's  pleading  eye,  which  completely 
disarmed  !him.  He  felt  in  that  propitious  mo- 
ment that  the  fatal  foes  were  henceforth  to  be 
fond  friends.  At  once  he  rose  up,  led  the  pant- 
ing dog  back  into  the  yard,  drew  him  close  up 
to  him,  spoke  to  him  with  authority,  and  slapped 
him  on  the  side  of  the  head  to  remind  him  of 
the  fact  that  he  was  fully  vanquished  and  con- 
quered forever.  They  ever  afterwards  remained  on 
uninterrupted  terms  of  closest  and  most  confiden- 
tial intimacy.  However,  they  were  wise  enough 
to  be  particular  not  to  do  anything  that  might 
justly  stir  up  each  other's  wrath  and  bring  on  a 
renewal  of  trouble  between  them.  And  ever  since 
9 


1 30  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  preacher  has  had  a  more  emphatic  appreciation 
of  the  apostolic  admonition:  "Beware  of  the  dogs." 
(Phil.  iii.  2.) 


ON  the  fifteenth  to  the  twenty-third  of  Septem- 
ber, inclusive,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine,  our  great  annual  conclave  came  together  in 
the  magnificent  city  of  Murfreesboro,  with  the 
venerated  and  tenderly  beloved  Bishop  Robert 
Paine,  of  Mississippi,  in  full  and  undisputed  charge 
of  the  august  assemblage  of  circuit  riders,  made 
up  of  grave  elders,  dignified  deacons,  and  jolly 
candidates  on  trial,  struggling  with  might  and 
main  to  win  membership  in  this  famous  body  of 
holy  men,  working  on  forever  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord  for  the  salvation  of  poor  lost  sinners,  and 
also  distinguished  laymen,  who  had  been  honored 
in  a  special  way  and  chosen  by  their  brethren  to 
take  part  in  the  important  matters  both  of  the 
Conference  room  and  cabinet  work.  We  had  a 
royal  time.  One  of  the  most  noted  events  that 
occurred  during  the  session  of  the  Conference  was 
a  visit  which  we  had  from  the  celebrated  W.  E. 
Munscy.  D.D.,  who  at  that  time  was  the  Secre- 
tary of  our  Foreign  Missions.  Our  great  Church 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  131 

has  produced  but  few  men  who  have  succeeded  in 
acquiring1  the  high  renown  as  a  surpassing  pulpit 
orator  that  he  obtained.  At  the  special  request  of 
Bishop  Paine,  he  occupied  the  sacred  desk  on  Sun- 
day morning,  and  what  a  grand  sermon  it  was! 
He  took  for  his  text  Psalm  cii.  25-28.  The  subject 
was  the  "Eternity  and  Immutability  of  God."  No 
one  could  give  an  adequate  description  of  the  dis- 
course; it  was  unique,  sublime,  powerful,  over- 
whelming. Dr.  John  W.  Hanner,  a  most  compe- 
tent judge  of  eloquent  speeches,  was  heard  to  utter 
the  involuntary  exclamation  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  most  bewildering  effort:  "Such  preaching  as 
that  has  not  been  done  in  this  world  since  Christ 
preached  in  Jerusalem  and  Paul  preached  in 
Rome!"  Dr.  R.  A.  Young,  the  prince  of  scribes, 
was  at  the  recorder's  table,  taking  minutes  of  men 
and  measures  for  tfhe  information  of  future  genera- 
tions. This  member  of  the  Conference  was  sent 
to  Trinity  and  Chestnut  Grove,  a  captivating  little 
charge  in  Giles  County,  near  Pulaski,  with  the 
Rev.  John  F.  Hughes  as  his  presiding  elder.  We 
had  a  fine  year,  good  revivals  at  both  Churches, 
sixty-five  or  seventy  souls  converted,  added  to  the 
Churdi,  and  sanctified  to  God. 


132  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

DURING  the  hot  summer  months  an  amusing 
incident  came  off  at  our  boarding  house.  •  We 
were  abiding  in  great  pleasantness,  peace,  and  hap- 
piness in  the  home  of  an  aged  widowed  woman  and 
her  son.  They  were  most  excellent  people.  The 
young  man  was  the  proprietor  of  a  drug  store  in 
Pulaski.  As  is  common  in  country  places,  the 
pestiferous  little  fleas  began  to  put  in  their  appear- 
ance, greatly  to  the  annoyance  of  the  landlady  and 
my  wife.  Now,  somehow  or  other,  they  had  come 
into  possession  of  the  knowledge  of  a  sure  remedy 
for  the  destruction  of  these  diminutive  and  intoler- 
able household  nuisances.  So  one  morning  the 
mother  told  her  son  to  be  sure  to  bring  her  out  a 
bottle  of  this  prepared  death  for  fleas.  When  he  re- 
turned that  evening,  he  delivered  the  deadly  drug 
according  to  instructions.  The  next  day,  in  the 
afternoon,  while  the  women  were  alone  with  a  lit- 
tle servant  girl,  they  concluded  to  get  rid  of  the 
fleas.  Now,  there  was  an  old  mother  cat  on  the 
place,  with  a  large  litter  of  half-grown  kittens,  and 
she  was  a  great  favorite  in  the  family,  so  they  had 
them  all  brought  in.  There  was  no  trouble  in  man- 
aging the  affair,  for  they  were  all  perfectly  gentle, 
as  pets  commonly  are.  They  put  the  medicine  on 
at  once  and  turned  them  loose,  and  well  they  did, 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  133 

for  the  saddest,  most  unexpected,  and  startling  re- 
sults immediately  followed.  Just  as  soon  as  the 
cat-anointing  was  over,  the  whole  feline  brood 
flew,  frantic  with  fiercest  pain,  in  every  direction, 
around  the  house,  under  the  house,  and  from  the 
house,  tearing  the  air  to  pieces  with  the  most  ter- 
rific screams  of  agony.  Soon  kind  death  delivered 
the  entire  yelling  crew  from  keen  anguish,  pain, 
suffering,  and  sorrow.  Throughout  this  howling 
storm  of  torture,  writhing,  squalls,  and  noise,  the 
owner  of  the  cats  and  my  wife,  who  had  materially 
"aided  and  abetted"  in  their  untimely  and  unin- 
tentional taking  off,  chilled  with  fear  and  almost 
crazed  with  alarm,  were  sitting  safely  within  the 
house,  with  windows  all  fastened  down,  doors 
closed,  bolted,  barred,  and  locked,  waiting,  listen- 
ing, watching  with  bated  breath,  deepest  anxiety, 
and  nervous  apprehension  the  end  of  the  most 
furious  and  fearful  fracas.  And  after  a  while  calm 
came,  peace  and  quiet  reigned,  and  the  harmony 
and  order  of  home  were  partially  restored;  but, 
mind  you,  that  house  was  rid  of  cats  and  fleas. 


134  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

FROM  October  the  fifth  to  the  thirteenth, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy,  Pulaski  enter- 
tained the  Conference.  The  competent,  polished, 
affable,  and  polite  Bishop  David  S.  Doggett,  of 
Virginia,  was  the  appointed  and  acceptable  presi- 
dent of  the  devout  convocation;  and  the  familiar, 
gigantic  form  of  Dr.  Young  was  seen  hanging 
with  watchful  interest  over  the  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten table  of  records.  The  Rev.  R.  A.  Holland,  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  a  very  popular  Methodist  preacher 
of  much  distinction  as  a  pulpit  orator,  visited  our 
Conference,  and  delighted  the  brethren  with  one 
of  his  most  fascinating  discourses.  He  took  his 
text  from  Hebrews  i.  8.  The  sermon  was  fine, 
thought  good,  diction  splendid,  rhetoric  and  decla- 
mation faultless.  This  happy  itinerant  was  sent 
to  Pleasant  Valley  and  Olivet,  only  a  few  miles 
from  where  he  was,  in  an  adjoining  community. 
He  also  had  a  new  presiding  elder.  Rev.  R.  P.  Ran- 
som, an  excellent  man  and  a  fine  preacher,  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  district.  We  had  a  big  revival  at 
Pleasant  Valley — about  forty  people  converted. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  135 

DURING  the  year  the  pastor  committed  a 
funny  little  escapade  which  was  rather  em- 
barrasing  to  him  at  the  time,  and  which,  in  the  end, 
turned  out  to  be  decidedly  beneficial  to  him.  There 
was  an  old  lady  who  belonged  to  the  charge  and 
was  one  of  the  best  members  in  it.  She  was  punc- 
tual and  regular  in  her  attendance  upon  all  the  serv- 
ices of  the  Church,  and  was  a  great  friend  to  the 
preachers,  and  especially  to  her  own  pastor.  He 
was  the  most  welcome  of  all  guests  to  her  house. 
Nothing  that  she  could  do  for  him  was  good 
enough  for  him  in  her  estimation.  And  all  the  peo- 
ple in  that  country  who  knew  her  believed  her  to  be 
a  sincere  Christian;  but  at  the  same  time  many  of 
them  regarded  her  as  being  fanatical  in  her  religion 
—some  thought  her  a  crank,  and  others  said  she 
was  crazy.  The  preacher  concluded  that  she  was 
too  easily  excited  and  rather  boisterous  and  noisy 
in  her  demonstrations  at  such  times.  She  was  not 
quite  moderate  and  discreet  enough  when  shout- 
ing in  meetings  to  please  him,  and  she  was  about 
to  become  a  sort  of  annoyance  to  him  as  well  as 
to  some  other  members  of  the  congregation,  so  he 
determined  to  have  an  interview  with  her  on  the 
subject.  One  Monday  morning,  after  she  had 
shouted  long  and  loud  the  day  before  during  his 


136  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

sermon,  he  called  on  her  at  her  own  home.  She 
seemed  to  suspect  the  object  he  had  in  view  in  mak- 
ing this  visit,  so  she  placed  the  Bible  and  hymn 
book  on  the  little  table  right  away,  and  asked  him 
to  have  prayers,  evidently  preferring  the  prayer  first 
and  the  conversation  afterwards.  After  the  devo- 
tions were  over,  the  discussion  of  the  delicate  mat- 
ter was  opened  up.  The  preacher  began  by  assuring 
the  good  sister  that  he  did  not  object  to  shouting, 
but  that  he  rather  liked  it,  and  that  he  was  fully  per- 
suaded that  it  ought  to  be  done  cautiously  and 
wisely,  that  it  might  be  done  decently  and  in  order. 
And  he  went  on  to  say  that  he  thought  it  unfortu- 
nate and  out  of  place  for  any  one  to  break  out 
shouting  at  an  unsuitable  or  unfavorable  place  in 

the  sermon.   For  instance,  if  the  minister  were  de- 

• 

scribing  the  pleasures  of  religion  or  the  happiness 
of  heaven,  it  would  be  all  right  to  shout;  but  if  he 
were  discoursing  on  the  delusions  of  sin  or  the  hor- 
rors of  hell,  solemn  silence  would  be  far  more  ap- 
propriate. The  pious  old  soul  listened  attentively 
and  respectfully  till  'he  got  through;  then,  with  a 
pleasant  smile  on  her  face,  she  said  modestly  but 
confidently:  "There  is  a  big  mistake  about  this 
matter.  Why,  the  sermon  does  not  make  me  shout ; 
it  has  nothing  in  the  world  to  do  with  it.  I  pray 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  137 

every  day  in  the  week,  and  try  to  live  so  that  I  may 
get  happy  on  Sunday.  The  Lord  never  disappoints 
me,  and  when  he  gives  me  the  blessing,  no  differ- 
ence when  nor  where,  nor  who  is  about,  nor  what 
is  going  on,  /  akvays  shout"  This  stunned  him. 
She  had  thrown  the  question  into  an  entirely  new 
relation.  When  she  made  her  shouting  a  matter 
wholly  and  solely  between  herself  and  her  Saviour, 
she  lifted  it  up  into  a  realm  where  the  preacher 
dare  not  attempt  to  control  or  interfere  with  it. 
In  the  conflict  she  was  clearly  the  victor,  and  had  a 
perfect  right  to  wear  the  laurels.  He  left  her  fully 
convinced  that  it  was  not  his  duty  or  business  to 
meddle  with  sacred  things  of  that  character. 


OCTOBER  fourth  to  ninth,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-one,  found  the  Old  Jerusa- 
lem Conference  lovingly  and  comfortably  en- 
sconced in  Lebanon,  with  Bishop  George  F.  Pierce 
at  the  head  of  affairs  to  conduct  them  safely 
through,  and  Dr.  Young  at  the  secretary's  desk 
to  write  down  things  as  they  came  to  pass.  The 
Bishop  was  in  feeble  health;  the  whole  deliberative 
body  was  perceptibly  in  sympathy  with  him.  We 
were  returned  to  Pleasant  Valley  and  Olivet,  with 


138  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

Brother  Ransom  still  our  presiding  elder.  We  had 
a  very  prosperous  year,  good  meetings  and  fine  re- 
vivals at  both  the  churches — about  sixty  persons 
converted  and  brought  into  the  Church. 


THERE  was  residing  in  the  bounds  of  the 
work  a  remarkably  large,  stout  young  man, 
apparently  in  robust  health.  It  was  said  of  him  that 
he  had  never  been  sick  a  day  in  his  life.  Had  he 
been  permitted  to  survive  a  few  months  longer, 
he  would  have  reached  his  majority  and  come  into 
possession  of  several  thousand  dollars.  He  was  in 
attendance  upon  the  meeting  during  the  revival, 
and  when  mourners  were  called  he  invariably  arose 
and  walked  out  of  the  room,  and  was  always  fol- 
lowed by  several  other  young  men.  One  Sunday 
night,  which  was  the  last  night  of  the  meeting,  his 
friends  urged  him  to  seek  the  salvation  of  his  soul, 
but  he  persistently  declined.  At  last  the  preacher 
himself  was  prevailed  on  to  go  and  try  to  persuade 
him  to  yield  to  the  call  of  mercy;  but  he  utterly 
refused,  stating  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  trou- 
bled with  religion  then,  that  he  intended  to  enjoy 
life  while  he  was  young,  and  that  when  he  got  to 
be  old,  just  before  he  died,  he  would  profess  re- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  139 

ligion.  The  very  next  day  he  was  taken  violently 
sick,  and  died  in  a  few  hours.  So  great  was  his 
pain  and  suffering  that  his  reason  was  at  once  de- 
throned. From  the  first  of  his  attack  he  was  en- 
tirely oblivious  of  everything  about  him,  until 
death  came  and  released  him.  The  young  men 
who  were  his  associates  looked  upon  it  as  a  divine 
judgment  sent  upon  him,  and  came  in  a  body  and 
requested  the  preacher  to  commence  a  meeting  at 
once,  that  they  might  seek  religion.  He  told  them 
that  he  could  not  comply  with  their  wishes,  as- 
sured them  that  it  was  not  at  all  essential  that  they 
should  be  in  a  big  meeting  to  seek  pardon;  but  that 
if  they  felt  that  they  could  more  readily  obtain 
forgiveness  in  a  protracted  meeting  than  anywhere 
else,  there  was  one  then  in  progress  in  an  adja- 
cent community,  which  they  could  conveniently 
reach.  They  went,  and  professed  religion. 

"When  I  am  old — and  O,  how  soon 
Will  life's  sweet  morning  yield  to  noon, 
And  noon's  broad,  fevered,  earnest  light 
Be  shaded  in  the  solemn  night ! 
Till  like  a  story  well-nigh  told 
Will  seem  my  life,  when  I  am  old. 

Ere  I  am  old,  O  let  me  give 

My  life  to  learning  hozv  to  live! 

Then  shall  I  meet  with  willing  heart 

An  early  summons  to  depart, 

Or  find  my  lengthened  days  consoled 

By  God's  sweet  peace — when  I  am  old." 


140  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

THE  Conference  met  at  Nashville  in  the  Mc- 
Kendree  Church,  October  sixteenth  and 
twenty-third,  inclusive,  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-two,  with  Bishop  David  S.  Doggett  in  the 
chair,  and  our  own  beloved  Dr.  R.  A.  Young,  with 
pencil  in  hand,  at  the  recorder's  table.  This  was 
a  long  but  very  pleasant  session  of  this  great  ec- 
clesiastical body,  and  when,  at  last,  it  rounded  up 
its  business,  this  brother  found,  to  his  comfort 
and  delight,  that  he  was  appointed  to  the  Spring- 
field Station.  We  had  Rev.  A.  Mizel  for  our  pre- 
siding elder.  Going  to  that  splendid  charge  was 
to  me  like  returning  home  after  an  absence  of  six 
years  from  loved  ones,  and  the  noble  people  re- 
ceived us  with  open  hands  and  hearts  to  their 
homes.  We  were  having  flattering  prospects  for 
a  very  prosperous  year,  when  cholera  broke  out  in 
the  town;  from  that  on  to  the  close  of  the  year  it 
was  simply  terrific.  The  Church  was  strengthened 
in  many  ways,  but  not  much  in  numbers. 

THE  grand  assembly  of  Methodist  ministers 
came  together  in  the  most  excellent  and  hos- 
pitable little  city  of  Franklin  on  the  eighth  day  of 
October,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-three,  and 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  141 

closed  up  their  business  for  that  annual  meeting 
on  the  fifteenth  of  the  same  month,  with  Bishop 
H.  N.  McTyeire  presiding,  and  with  nearly  all  the 
balance  of  the  Conference  subsiding.  When  Bishop 
McTyeire  was  in  the  chair,  every  member  of  the 
body  knew  it.  If  he  were  not  aware  of  it  at  once, 
he  soon  found  it  out ;  and  when  the  fact  dawned  on 
him  fully,  it  did  not  immediately  fade  out.  The 
information  generally  came  to  stay.  Now  it  began 
to  leak  out  early  in  the  session  that  the  Bishop  was 
in  favor  of  making  a  good  many  changes  in  sta- 
tioning the  preachers,  which  filled  the  minds  of 
many  of  the  brethren  with  general  apprehension, 
growing  anxiety,  and  great  uneasiness. 


WHEN  the  hour  arrived  for  reading  out  the 
appointments,  a  member  of  the  Confer- 
ence, who  was  a  very  witty  man  and  full  of  good 
humor,  asked  another  brother  if  he  could  sing. 
who,  he  knew,  was  utterly  and  hopelessly  ignorant 
of  music,  saying:  "If  you  can,  I  want  you  to  sing 
these  lines  just  before  the  Bishop  begins  his  work:" 

"Hark !  from  the  tombs  a  doleful  sound ! 

My  ears,  attend  the  cry : 
'Ye  living  men,  come  view  the  ground 
Where  you  must  shortly  lie.' " 


142  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

But  there  was  at  least  one  preacher  who  was  not 
displeased  with  his  appointment,  for  he  was  sent 
back  to  Springfield,  with  the  gentle  and  amiable 
William  Burr  for  his  presiding  elder.  We  had  a 
moderately  successful  and  very  happy  year.  Dur- 
ing this  year  the  preacher  tried  his  hand  on  the 
only  purely  extemporaneous  speech  that  he  ever 
delivered  on  anything  like  an  important  occasion. 
For  some  reason,  the  gentleman  who  was  selected 
to  make  the  address  was  prevented  from  doing  it, 
and  he  did  not  know  that  he  would  be  called  on  to 
take  his  place  until  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  ceme- 
tery; and  as  the  effort  was  published  in  one  of  the 
town  papers,  he  will  simply  copy  it  here  as  it  was 
given  out  then. 

'The  following  remarks  were  delivered  by  the 
Rev.  Green  P.  Jackson  on  Decoration  Day  at  the 
graves  of  the  Confederate  soldiers,  Mr.  Jackson 
kindly  consenting  to  their  publication: 

"  'My  Countrymen  and  Fellow-Citsens:  A  sorrow- 
ful occasion  has  called  us  together  to-day.  We 
have  assembled  to  decorate  the  graves  of  the  Con- 
federate soldiers  who  lie  wrapped  in  the  cold,  deep 
slumbers  of  death  in  our  midst.  Balmy  spring  has 
ever  been  regarded  as  the  most  cheerful  and  exhil- 
arant  season  of  the  year,  for  then  bounteous  na- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  143 

ture  pours  forth  her  floral  contributions  in  rich  and 
lavish  profusion  to  regale  and  delight  the  senses 
of  her  grateful  children.  But  alas!  here  the  as- 
sociated contrast  of  her  gay  and  joyous  scenery 
with  our  gloomy  surroundings  can  only  calm  for 
a  moment  the  troubled  surface  of  our  grief,  but  it 

cannot  destroy  the  bitterness  of  our  woe.     O  no; 

/ 

that  is  as  deep  as  our  hearts  and  as  lasting  as  life 
itself!  From  the  earliest  era  of  time  down  to  the 
present  age  of  the  world,  all  the  great  nations  of 
the  earth,  whether  in  savage  or  civilized  condi- 
tions, have  gloried  in  the  consecrated  and  sacrifi- 
cing patriotism  of  their  soldiery.  Hence  they  have 
carefully  recorded  their  daring  deeds  of  martial  val- 
or in  their  national  histories,  sung  them  in  the  rap- 
turous music  of  their  poetry,  and  celebrated  them 
in  their  grand  festivals.  Then  surely  the  sad  but 
sacred  ceremonies  of  this  memorial  convocation 
cannot  fail  to  make  a  profound  and  enduring  im- 
pression upon  the  hearts  of  all  who  witness  them. 
For  myself,  I  may  speak:  As  I  look  with  tearful 
eyes  upon  these  sodded  mounds  in  your  family 
burying  grounds  and  village  cemetery,  in  which 
the  precious  dust  of  the  fallen  heroes  of  the  lost 
cause  is  lovingly  inurned,  and  read  the  mournful 
epitaphs  engraved  upon  the  white  slabs  and  shafts 


144  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

of  stone   which  overshadow  them,  what   painful 
recollections  come  rushing  from  the  dreary  regions 
of  the  past  and  dashing  through  my  distracted 
brain!     The  murmuring  sounds  of  intestine  strife 
which,  for  a  while  at  least,  rent  the  government  in 
twain,  roll  over  my  soul  afresh,  and  the  dread  sig- 
nal of  bloody  war  which  startled  the  whole  nation 
from  the   Northern  lakes  to  the  Southern  gulf, 
rises  again  to  my  view.     And  how  vividly  I  re- 
member, that  after  protracted  deliberation  and  ma- 
ture thought,  brave^  old  Tennessee,  the  Volunteer 
State,  unfurled  her  fearless  banner  to  the  stormy 
winds  of  Mars;  then  her  chivalric  sons  arose  at 
once  from  the  flower  of  her  population,  and,  buck- 
ling on  their  armor,  proudly  marched  forth  to  con- 
quer in  the  day  of  battle  or  fall  on  fields  of  glory. 
Many  promising  young  men,   the  fond  hope  of 
broken  families  left  behind,   were  slain  with   the 
deadly  missiles  of  war  or  wasted  by  the  ravages  of 
fatal    disease   far   away    from    home.      There   no 
mother's  care  or  sister's  affection  softened  their 
sufferings  or  brightened  their  pale  faces  when  dy- 
ing, and  with  no  winding  sheet  save  their  gray 
blankets,  often  saturated  with  their  own  patriotic 
blood,  they  were  laid  away  in  the  ditches  to  rest 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  145 

from  the  clangor  of  arms  till  the  resurrection  day 
shall  awake  them  to  life  again. 

"No  clarion's  peal,  nor  cannon's  roar, 

Can  break  their  dreamless  sleep ; 
No  more  their  sword  at  freedom's  call 
Shall  from  its  scabbard  leap." 

But  their  fame  shall  live  forever.  We  need  no  tall 
cenotaphs  of  Italian  marble  or  magnificent  mau- 
soleums of  American  granite  to  keep  their  hon- 
ored names  from  falling  into  oblivion  or  to  per- 
petuate them  among  men,  for  their  own  immortal 
renown  is  our  best  heritage,  and  must  remain  dear 
to  us  and  to  posterity  until  the  last  true  heart  shall 
cease  forever  to  pulsate  in  the  "sunny  Smith."  Yes, 
every  year  we  will  continue  to  bring  sweet  bou- 
quets to  spread  upon  their  graves  and  chaplets  of 
richest  flowers  to  hang  upon  their  tombs.  Let 
this  innocent  and  laudable  custom  forever  prevail 
all  over  the  Southland,  from  the  wave-beaten 
coast  of  the  Carolinas  to  the  golden  shore  of  Cali- 
fornia. In  the  ethereal  mildness  of  gentle  spring, 
when  our  fair  and  beautiful  section  of  the  country 
puts  on  her  vernal  robes  of  many  bright  blossoms, 
we  will  never  fail  to  visit  the  silent  and  peaceful 
places  of  these  reposing  martyrs,  who  poured  out 

in  the  defense  of  our  homes  the  warm  blood  which 
10 


146  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

animated  their  dauntless  hearts  and  flushed  their 
manly  cheeks.  And  we  will  not  come  together 
then  simply  to  pronounce  with  cold  formality  and 
public  show  flattering  panegyrics  and  fulsome  eu- 
logies upon  'the  gallant  bands  that  have  crossed 
over  the  river  of  death  and  are  resting  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees  of  life;  but  we  will  come  when  our 
souls  are  fired  with  pure,  patriotic  love  in  order 
that  we  may 

"To  the  glorious  dead,  forever  dear ! 
Indulge  the  tribute  of  a  grateful  tear."  ' 


AND  so  we  were  cordially  invited  to  go  to 
Gallatin,  one  of  the  most  hospitable  of  all 
the  entertaining  towns,  and  spend  from  October 
seventh  to  the  thirteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-four,  in  the  elegant  homes  of  the  kind  peo- 
ple there;  and  also  meet  with  the  pure,  good,  and 
great  Bishop  Enoch  M.  Marvin,  from  Missouri, 
who,  after  due  and  careful  consultation  with  the 
presiding  elders  and  a  few  interested  and  distin- 
guished laymen  (all  done  in  secret  conclave,  of 
course),  would  make  known  the  conclusion  he  had 
finally  reached  and  what  disposition  he  had  made 
in  each  of  our  cases  as  to  our  different  fields  of 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  147 

labor  and  our  respective  homes  during  the  follow- 
ing year.  We  went  at  the  time  set  and  were  made 
welcome  by  the  generous  citizens,  and  found  Bish- 
op Marvin  one  of  the  finest  characters  and  best 
preachers  that  American  Methodism  has  yet  pro- 
duced. Peerless  in  the  pulpit,  equal  to  the  best  in 
the  chair,  and  pleasant  in  the  social  circle,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  giving  full  satisfaction  in  all  the  work 
which  he  did;  and  Dr.  Young  was  still  found  keep- 
ing correct  notes  of  what  was  said  and  done.  We 
were  returned  to  Springfield,  with  Brother  Burr 
still  as  presiding  elder.  We  had  a  fine  year,  every- 
thing went  on  smoothly,  pleasantly,  and  prosper- 
ously; but  we  had  no  great  revival. 


AT  the  urgent  solicitation  of  some  of  his 
friends,  he  was  induced  to  deliver  a  lecture 
on  "Woman's  Rights,"  which  was  published  in  a 
secular  paper,  and  he  feels  that  it  will  not  be  im- 
proper to  give  it  a  place  here.  "But  the  woman  is 
the  glory  of  the  man."  (i  Cor.  xi.  7.)  "Mulier 
autem  gloria  viri  est."  Such  is  the  Roman  version 
of  that  most  beautiful  compliment  of  divine  in- 
spiration upon  woman.  Probably,  as  many  think, 
the  apostolic  author  was  an  old  bachelor.  Some 


148  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

have  unkindly  intimated  that  he  was  not  very  par- 
tial to  the  fair  sex.  Certainly  that  opinion  does 
not  comport  well  with  his  own  deeply  significant 
and  highly  sublime  declaration.  He  has  spoken 
for  himself,  and  he  has  a  right  to  be  heard;  and 
according  to  his  strong  affirmation,  man  and 
woman,  in  harmonious  unity,  are  both  indispensa- 
bly necessary  in  the  formation  of  a  perfect  human- 
ity. He  interprets  falsely  who  supposes  that  the 
woman  is  but  the  dim  satellite  of  the  man,  illumi- 
nated with  rays  which  she  reflects  from  her  ma- 
jestic primary.  She  shines  with  no  borrowed  light. 
The  fate  of  man  is  inseparably  connected  with  the 
destiny  of  woman.  His  luster  ever  brightens  in 
her  exaltation  and  dies  in  her  degradation.  Just 
in  proportion  as  she  rises  in  goodness,  he  ascends 
in  greatness;  and  as  she  descends  into  vice,  he 
sinks  into  obscurity.  Without  woman  in  the  fine, 
native  purity  of  her  being,  the  high  culture  of  her 
mental  faculties,  and  the  diligent  training  of  her 
religious  powers,  man,  in  his  best  estate,  could 
be  only  a  clouded  orb,  a  planet  shrouded  in  rayless 
gloom. 

The  lofty  place  which  the  Divine  Architect 
assigned  to  her  in  the  dawning  splendor  of  her  ex- 
istence clearly  indicates  to  us  the  sacred  dignity 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  149 

of  her  person  and  the  supreme  importance  of  her 
influence.  She  is  the  highest,  brightest,  and  best 
link  that  glitters  in  the  long  and  mysterious  chain 
of  terrestial  creation.  God  originally  made  all 
things  in  the  regular  and  consecutive  order  of  their 
ranks.  I  do  abhor  with  all  my  heart  and  abominate 
with  all  my  soul  Mr.  Darwin's  foolish  and  most 
disgusting  theory  of  the  descent  of  man.  Su- 
premely absurd  and  ridiculous  is  the  idea  that  man, 
pronounced  by  the  highest  authority  "the  image 
and  glory  of  God,"  is  merely  a  development  from 
the  despicable  little  monkey,  which  farther  back 
was  derived  from  some  marsupial  animal,  which 
still  more  remotely  in  the  hoary  ages  of  antiquity 
sprang  through  a  long,  shadowy  line  of  diversified 
and  ever-changing  forms  from  some  reptilelike 
or  amphibianlike  creature,  which  the  deluded  and 
deluding  author  presumed  had  in  the  unknown 
commencement  some  sort  of  a  zoophytic  being  for 
its  ancestor.  Surely  this  is  peering  with  deranged 
optics  through  the  dark,  misty  regions  of  the  past 
at  the  miraculous  rise  and  grand  progress  of  things. 
In  the  simple  cosmography  which  was  thrown 
from  the  infallible  pen  of  Moses  after  contem- 
plating with  feelings  of  unspeakable  awe  the  crude 
elements  and  rough  materials  of  the  vast  universe 


150  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

lying  everywhere  in  massive  heaps  or  floating  about 
in  magnificent  drifts  upon  the  black,  storm-tossed 
bosom  of  unlimited  chaos,  our  attention  is  directed 
to  a  detailed  account  and  minute  description  of  the 
true  and  only  reasonable  genesis  of  all  the  various 
types  and  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  per- 
taining to  our  planet,  starting  with  the  lowest  and 
meanest  and  advancing  steadily  through  the  suc- 
cessive gradations  up  to  the  most  excellent  of  all — 
man  and  woman.  The  globe  itself  being  finished 
and  prepared,  the  Jehovah  God  proceeded  to  fur- 
nish it  with  its  appropriate  flora  and  fauna.  He  clad 
it  with  grasses,  herbs,  flowers,  shrubs,  and  trees; 
then  he  filled  its  water  and  air  with  fishes  and  fowls, 
and  covered  its  broad  surface  with  reptiles  and 
quadrupeds;  and,  last  of  all,  he  made  two  human 
beings,  unto  whom  he  gave  complete  dominion 
over  all  the  rest  of  his  works.  The  creation  of  man 
and  woman  was  on  this  wise:  Adam  was  formed 
in  the  entireness  of  his  complex  being,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  wonderfully  constructed  body  taken 
from  the  dust  of  the  ground,  by  which  he  was  allied 
in  his  physical  nature  to  the  earth,  and  of  a  reason- 
able soul  which  brought  him  into  sympathy  with 
the  inferior  animal  creation,  and  of  an  immortal 
spirit  which  bound  him  in  rapturous  communion 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  151 

with  his  Infinite  Maker.  And  for  a  while  creation's 
grand  scale  seemed  graduated  in  him;  but  God  ar- 
rayed before  him  all  the  lower  creatures  that  he 
might  review  and  name  them.  This  was  a  test  of 
his  knowledge,  and  also  reminded  him  of  the  fact 
that  his  own  existence  was  as  yet  left  incomplete. 
For  among  all  the  vast  numbers  of  different  crea- 
tures which  passed  under  his  eye  that  day,  there 
was  found  no  helpmeet  for  him,  so  Jehovah  God 
wrapped  him  up  in  the  sweet  slumbers  of  a  pro- 
found ecstacy  of  sleep;  and,  while  the  influence  of 
this  divine  trance  was  upon  him,  "he  took  one  of 
his  sides  [see  Hebrew]  and  closed  up  the  flesh  in- 
stead thereof:  and  the  side  [Hebrew]  which  Jeho- 
vah God  had  taken  from  the  man,  builded  he  into  a 
woman  [see  Hebrew],  and  brought  her  unto  the 
man."  (Gen.  ii.  21,  22.)  And  when  Adam  awoke 
as  from  an  enchanting  dream  and  looked  with  un- 
utterable delight  upon  the  fair  and  lovely  being 
who  stood  in  silent  beauty  before  him,  he  at  once 
recognized  her  as  an  essential  part  of  himself,  and 
instinctively  called  her  Eve  (Hebrew,  life),  for  she 
was  the  charm  of  his  heart  and  the  happiness  of  his 
home.  Adam  and  Eve  were  not  the  best  of  all 
things  created  simply  because  they  were  made 
last;  but  they  were  made  last  because  they  were 


152  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  highest  and  noblest  workmanship  of  God,  and 
immediately  the  eternal  Elohim  crowned  them  to- 
gether the  king  and  queen  of  this  whole  terrestrial 
realm.  "And  God  blessed  them;  and  God  said  unto 
them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth,  and  subdue  it;  and  have  dominion  over  the 
fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  birds  of  the  heavens, 
and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the 
earth."  (Gen.  i.  28.)  In  deciding  the  relations 
which  man  and  woman  hold  to  the  inferior  works 
of  God,  we  meet  with  no  serious  difficulties.  But 
when  we  undertake  to  determine  exactly  the  rela- 
tions which  they  sustain  to  each  other,  then  we 
find  that  we  have  a  delicate  matter  in  hand.  And 
especially  is  this  true  in  these  latter  days,  when  the 
peace  of  the  whole  country  is  disturbed  and  all 
ranks  of  society  are  agitated  with  tremendous 
measures  of  proposed  reform.  Their  natural  places 
in  creation  are  equally  lofty  and  sublime;  neverthe- 
less they  are  entirely  and  forever  distinct.  Their 
respective  spheres  in  life  are  widely  different,  and 
yet  they  are  all  the  while  mutually  dependent  upon 
each  other.  Acting  in  harmony  as  the  Almighty 
directs,  they  present  in  all  perfection  the  nicely 
adjusted  elements  of  a  complete  but  complicated 
humanity.  But  when  divided  in  sentiment  and  ad- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  153 

verse  in  affection,  they  madly  contend  about  their 
rights  and  wrongs,  they  unwisely  make  war  upon 
themselves,  and  with  sacrilegious  hands  cast  away 
their  own  excellencies.  And  if  the  question  be 
asked,  "Which  is  the  greater,  the  man  or  the 
woman?"  it  will  be  correctly  answered  by  saying, 
"Neither."  The  woman  supplements  the  defects  of 
the  man;  and  he  in  return  supplies  her  deficiencies. 
Thus  the  two  make  but  one:  "In  the  day  that  God 
created  man,  in  the  likeness  of  God  made  he  him; 
male  and  female  created  he  them;  and  blessed 
them,  and  called  their  name  Adam,  in  the  day 
when  they  were  created."  (Gen.  v.  i,  2.)  But  still 
each  of  them  has  a  special  station  to  fill.  Man's 
work  is  bold,  enterprising,  and  perilous.  He  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  it  in  mind  and  body.  Wom- 
an's grandest  and  best  achievements  are  confined 
strictly  to  the  social  and  domestic  circles,  and  these 
constitute  the  most  becoming  arena  where  she 
may  best  exert  her  energies  and  display  her  talents. 
No  one  has  the  slightest  semblance  of  legitimate 
authority  from  any  competent  source  for  rudely 
thrusting  her  out  of  her  divinely  prescribed  sphere 
of  action;  neither  has  she  the  right,  in  any  sense 
whatever,  to  abandon  it  for  some  other  calling 
which  she  may  feel  disposed  to  select.  And  they 


154  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

are  not  genuine  friends  to  her,  no  difference  who 
they  are  or  what  professions  they  make,  who  are 
wickedly  striving  to  pull  her  down  from  her  high 
and  holy  position  to  meaner  enterprises.  She  has 
the  sound  judgment  to  vote  a  judicious  ticket  at 
the  poles  and  ought  to  be  invested  with  the  elect- 
ive franchise,  for  she  possesses  the  sturdy  valor  to 
fight  the  bloodless  battles  of  her  country's  liberty 
at  the  ballot  box.  But  notwithstanding  all  this, 
let  not  that  dark  and  dreadful  day  ever  dawn  upon 
our  unfortunate  land  when  she,  deserted  by  her 
good  sense  and  intoxicated  with  the  wild,  delirious 
excitement  of  party  strife,  may  in  a  thoughtless 
moment  cast  from  her  that  magic  power  for  good 
which  has  been  given  to  her  over  the  sterner  sex, 
and,  desperately  sacrificing  her  benign  influence  of 
character,  shall  blindly  plunge  herself  into  the  stag- 
nant and  polluted  waters  of  the  terrible  cesspool 
of  political  passion.  She  was  not  made  for  the 
drunken  conflicts  of  the  rostrum  nor  for  the  brawl- 
ing debates  of  the  corrupt  platforms  of  Parlia- 
ments and  Congress  halls.  Only  in  the  rarest 
cases  of  exception  to  the  general  rule  should  she 
even  be  found  in  the  sacred  pulpit.  Heaven  has 
not  commissioned  her  to  go  out  and  publicly 
preach  the  gospel  and  proclaim  aloud  the  message 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  155 

of  salvation  to  the  world  at  large.  However,  she 
is  not  debarred  from  the  holy  ministry  on  account 
of  anything  like  mental  or  moral  incompetency; 
but  simply  because 

"A  woman's  noblest  station  is  retreat; 
Her  fairest  virtues  fly  from  public  sight." 

She  may  love  her  country,  and  she  ought  to  do  it ; 
but  her  patriotic  spirit  should  be  like  herself,  pure, 
cautious,  modest,  timid,  and  retiring.  Vaulting 
ambition,  the  bustling  manner,  and  the  fiery,  mar- 
tial temper, 

"Seeking  the  bubble  reputation, 
Even  in  the  cannon's  mouth, 

are  ever  foreign  to  feminine  graces.  What  a 
scene  woman  presents  commanding  armies,  waging 
war,  and  scattering,  with  demoniacal  fury,  deso- 
lation, death,  and  destruction  amid  the  smoke  and 
storm  of  battle  far  and  wide  over  reeking  fields  of 
fatal  conflict  and  bleeding  carnage,  to  wreathe  her 
fair,  soft  brow  with  the  gory  garlands  of  a  false  and 
fading  renown!  Fortunately  for  the  race,  this  is 
not  her  work.  Peace  and  mercy  attend  her  mis- 
sion. No  dripping  sword  she  brings  in  clinched 
fingers,  streaked  with  the  blood  of  the  slain;  but 
in  her  tiny,  tender  hand  the  olive  branch  she  waves 
to  the  rejoicing  world.  She  is  Heaven's  appointed 


156  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

guardian  of  humanity's  best  interests  and  earth's 
dearest  hopes.  She  refines  the  manners  and  puri- 
fies the  morals  of  man.  Her  powerful  ban,  pro- 
nounced by  her  on  hallowed  lips  against  drunken- 
ness, will  do  more  toward  putting  it  down  than  all 
the  temperance  societies  the  sober  world  will  ever 
be  able  to  organize.  When  she  whispers  in  posi- 
tive terms  of  deep  disapproval  into  the  dull  ear 
of  the  boldest  swearer  against  blasphemy,  the 
magic  sound  of  her  voice  will  ring  in  loud  notes 
of  alarm  throughout  the  reverberating  caverns  of 
his  degraded  soul  like  the  pealing  thunder  blasts 
from  Mount  Sinai,  trembling  from  summit  to  base 
beneath  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  announ- 
cing his  fearful  interdiction  against  profanity. 
Woman  has  more  kindness  in  her  nature  than  man. 
The  suffering  and  sorrowing  always  look  to  her  for 
sympathy  and  help.  Here  is  the  fruitful  field  for 
the  full  execution  of  her  benevolent  plans,  on  whose 
fertile  soil  she  may  gather  bright  laurels  of  glory 
to  shine  forever  on  her  worthy  temples.  For  her, 

"The  drying  up  a  single  tear  hath  more 
Of  honest  fame  than  shedding  seas  of  gore." 

Women  who  are  impatiently  waiting  with  fond  ex- 
pectation the  propitious  arrival  of  the  happy  hour 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  157 

that  shall  bring  with  it  pompous  promotions  to 
positions  of  power  perhaps  would  do  well  to  pause 
one  moment  and  reflect  soberly  upon  the  bad  luck 
and  unfortunate  termination  which  struck  the  as- 
piring angels  of  light.  That  self-tempted  band  of 
shining  spirits  were  displeased  with  their  first  es- 
tate, renounced  their  high  and  holy  stations,  and 
like  a  gathering  cloud  overshadowed  the  peaceful 
plains  of  bliss,  and  in  the  strength  of  proud,  tower- 
ing ranks  invaded  the  habitations  of  others,  as- 
sailed their  rights,  and  attempted  to  seize  upon 
their  possessions.  The  meed  of  their  swelling  am- 
bition was  disappointment  and  ruin.  All  who  are 
troubled  with  aggressive  tendencies  would  do  well 
to  take  heed  to  these  examples  who  have  gone  on 
before  them.  In  her  divinely  appointed  place, 
faithful,  contented,  and  true,  "the  woman  is  the 
glory  of  the  man"  just  as  the  sun  is  the  glory  of 
the  moon.  She  is  away  above  man  in  all  those 
things  which  constitute  native  human  goodness. 
The  heart  is  her  rightful  empire,  and  no  hand  holds 
a  scepter  that  can  sway  it  like  hers. 

"O  loving  woman,  man's  fulfillment  sweet, 
Completing  him  not  otherwise  complete! 
How  void  and  useless  the  sad  remnant  left 
Were  he  of  her,  his  nobler  part,  bereft." 


158  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

OCTOBER  sixth  to  twelfth,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-five — this  date  indicates  the 
meeting  of  the  Conference  in  the  rushing  and 
thrifty  little  city  of  Fayetteville,  with  Bishop  W. 
M.  Wightman  in  charge  of  matters,  and  Dr.  Young 
as  bookkeeper.  We  were  sent  to  McMinnville  and 
Manchester  Station;  J.  J.  Comer  was  our  presid- 
ing elder.  During  the  year  we  conducted  a  great 
revival  in  each  of  the  towns. 


AT  the  meetings  there  were  three  conversions 
which  deserve  special  mention.  There  was 
an  old  man  about  seventy  years  of  age  who  was  a 
prominent  citizen  in  his  town.  He  had  filled  high 
places  of  trust,  but  he  was  a  great  sinner.  And 
there  was  a  beautiful,  bright,  intelligent  little  girl 
about  five  years  of  age.  Now  they  were  both  at 
the  altar  seeking  salvation  at  the  same  time.  One 
morning  the  little  girl  was  happily  converted.  She 
arose  from  where  she  was  kneeling  with  her  face 
literally  beaming  with  joy,  and,  wrapping  her  arms 
about  her  mother's  neck,  who  was  sitting  by  her, 
she  exclaimed:  "O,  mamma,  I  am  so  happy!  I  love 
God  and  I  love  everybody!"  Just  then  the  old 
man,  lifting  up  his  head  with  eyes  streaming  with 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  159 

tears  of  true  penitency,  and  looking  in  that  direc- 
tion, caught  a  glimpse  of  the  child's  countenance, 
shining  with  the  light  of  the  new  life  which  had 
come  unto  her,  and  suddenly  a  great  deliverance 
oame  to  him,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  shouting,  and, 
laying  his  hand  on  his  wife's  shoulder,  he  repeated 
after  the  little  child:  "O,  I  am  so  happy!  I  love 
God  and  I  love  everybody!"  Because  spiritual 
life  is  the  love  of  God  which  hath  been  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts  through  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is 
given  unto  us,  the  little  untaught  child  can  know 
as  much  about  it  and  enjoy  it  as  fully  as  the  sage 
and  philosopher. 

"Yes,  Love  indeed  is  light  from  Heaven, 

A  spark  of  that  immortal  fire 
With  angels  shar'd,  by  Allah  given, 
To  lift  from  Earth  our  low  desire. 
Devotion  wafts  the  mind  above, 
But  Heaven  itself  descends  in  Love ; 
A  feeling  from  the  Godhead  caught, 
To  wean  from  self  each  sordid  thought ; 
A  ray  of  Him  who  formed  the  whole ; 
A  glory  circling  round  the  Soul !" 


AND  there  was  an  influential  man  of  consider- 
able means,  who  also  obtained  pardon  of  sin 
and  desired  to  be  baptized  by  immersion;  and  when 


160  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  time  agreed  upon  arrived,  the  parties,  with  a 
large  crowd  of  people,  met  at  the  place  which  had 
been  designated,  on  the  bank  of  a  beautiful  little 
stream  of  water,  cool,  clear,  and  sparkling  like 
melted  glass  in  the  light  of  heaven;  and  when  the 
minister  was  about  to  take  charge  of  the  candi- 
date to  perform  the  holy  sacrament,  he  observed 
that  he  was  dressed  in  an  elegant  suit  of  very  costly 
clothes,  and,  supposing  that  he  was  making  a  mis- 
take thoughtlessly,  he  ventured  to  suggest  that  he 
had  better  use  a  more  common  garb  on  the  occa- 
sion; but  the  gentleman  looked  straight  at  him, 
with  tears  on  his  cheeks,  and  answered  with  a 
trembling  voice:  "I  have  weighed  all  that,  and  have 
decided  to  give  myself  to  my  Lord  in  my  best 
clothes."  He  said  no  more  about  the  matter,  but 
proceeded  to  baptize  him,  feeling  assured  that  he 
would  make  a  good  member  of  the  Church,  which 
he  did. 


BISHOP  JOHN  C.  KEENER,  of  New  Or- 
leans, held  the  Conference  in  the  refined  and 
highly  cultured  little  city,  Columbia,  on  the  fourth 
and   tenth   days,   inclusive,   of  October,   eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-six.     He  made  a  favorable 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  161 

impression  on  the  brethren  at  once,  presiding  with 
perfect  ease,  affability,  and  unyielding  firmness; 
and  he  also  gave  general  satisfaction  in  the  cabi- 
net work.  We  were  appointed  to  Culleoka  and 
Hurricane.  The  Webb  Brothers'  famous  training 
school  for  boys  was  located  at  Culleoka  at  that 
time,  and  was  a  large,  flourishing  institution,  af- 
fording fine  opportunities  for  the  accomplishment 
of  good.  We  spent  a  pleasant  year  there.  Well- 
born Mooney,  a  man  famous  for  superior  skill  in 
sermonizing,  was  our  presiding  elder. 


OCTOBER  third  to  eleventh,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven,  finds  the  Conference 
again  busily  engaged  in  holding  its  session  in  Tulip 
Street,  with  Bishop  David  S.  Doggett  at  the  head 
of  things,  and  Dr.  Young  ready  to  write  them 
down.  We  had  a  good,  smooth,  long  run;  but  no- 
body need  be  in  a  hurry  about  the  business,  as  all 
are  having  a  nice  time  in  the  Conference  room 
and  a  pleasant  time  in  the  homes  of  the  kind  and 
clever  people  where  they  are  stopping,  so  we  linger 
on  for  nine  delightful  days  before  we  get  the  ap- 
pointments. From  there  we  were  sent  to  Fay- 
etteville,  with  Rev.  J.  A.  Orman  for  our  presiding 
ii 


1 62  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

elder.  He  was  most  learned  in  the  laws  of  the 
Church,  skillful  and  faithful  in  their  execution,  and 
also  a  good  preacher  and  fine  presiding  officer.  We 
spent  the  whole  year  trying  to  organize  and  train 
the  Church  along  lines  of  methodical  working,  and 
we  succeeded  in  doing  this  in  all  departments;  but 
we  accomplished  nothing  more.  However,  that 
proved  to  be  a  grand  achievement. 


y^LARKSVILLE  is  again  the  place  selected  for 
V_>!  the  general  rendezvous  of  the  cavalry  brigade 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  belong- 
ing to  the  Tennessee  Conference.  They  came  rush- 
ing into  that  place  on  the  ninth  of  October,  and 
left  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month,  eight- 
een hundred  and  seventy-eight.  Bishop  Hubbard 
H.  Kavanaugh  was  in  command  of  the  troops,  and 
a  more  gallant  officer  never  issued  an  order  in  camp 
or  on  field  of  action.  Dr.  Young,  faithful  to  the 
established  custom,  was  his  lieutenant.  We  had  a 
fine  session  of  the  Conference.  We  were  returned 
to  Fayetteville,  with  Brother  Orman  in  charge  of 
the  district. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  163 

DURING  this  year  we  had  a  big  revival,  which 
continued  for  about  nine  weeks  and  which 
resulted  in  the  conversion  of  over  two  hundred 
and  forty  souls.  People  were  saved  in  their  homes, 
on  the  streets,  in  their  storehouses,  and  in  their 
workshops  as  well  as  at  the  church.  It  was  a  great 
time  in  that  old  town.  The  last  Sunday  night  of 
the  meeting  we  were  strongly  solicited  to  close  it; 
but,  being  powerfully  impressed  that  we  ought  not 
to  do  it,  we  declined,  and  announced  an  appoint- 
ment for  Monday  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  which 
was  unusually  well  attended.  The  exhortation  was 
short,  and  when  penitents  were  called  for  twenty- 
one  schoolgirls,  ranging  perhaps  from  ten  to 
eighteen  years  of  age,  came  all  at  once  into  the 
altar  and  were  converted — every  one  of  them — in 
less  than  thirty  minutes  after  they  got  there.  That 
was  one  of  the  most  entrancing  sights  that  mine 
eyes  have  ever  looked  upon.  We  felt  that  the  work 
was  done,  and  closed  the  meeting  at  once.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  this  meeting  an  affecting  and 
very  exciting  incident  took  place  one  night  in  the 
church  while  the  altar  exercises  were  going  on. 


164  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

THERE  was  a  young  man  about  twenty-two 
or  three  years  of  age  in  attendance,  who  was 
apparently  very  stout,  and,  at  the  time,  in  fine, 
robust  health.  He  was  sitting  far  back  in  the  room, 
under  a  window,  and  seemed  very  deeply  touched 
and  much  concerned.  His  mother  came  to  the 
minister  and  earnestly  requested  him  to  go  to  her 
son  and  talk  with  him,  saying:  "Please  go  and  see 
him,  for  he  loves  you  and  has  confidence  in  you; 
and  if  anybody  in  the  world  can  do  him  good,  you 
can."  He  went  at  once,  and  when  he  reached  the 
young  man  he  was  convinced  that  there  was  some- 
thing of  a  very  serious  character  going  on  with 
him,  and  in  a  very  few  moments  it  was  made  mani- 
fest that  he  was  in  a  critical  condition,  for  in  at- 
tempting to  respond  to  a  question  which  was  pro- 
posed to  him  there  was  heard  a  deep,  ominous, 
gurgling  noise  in  his  throat  as  if  welling  up  from  his 
lungs,  which  was  followed  immediately  by  an 
alarming  sluice  of  blood  that  proclaimed  inevitable 
death  in  his  case.  And  seeing  this,  the  preacher  ran 
hurriedly  across  the  street  to  a  physician's  house 
and  sought  his  services,  who  was  soon  by  the  suf- 
ferers side;  and  when  he  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  wasting  and  fatal  hemorrhage  sufficiently 
stanched,  he  had  the  patient  removed  from  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  165 

church  to  his  own  home,  and  administered  some 
anodynes  to  him  to  enable  him  to  rest  more 
quietly.  No  one  besides  his  mother,  the  doctor, 
the  nurse,  and  the  preacher  was  allowed  to  enter 
his  room.  He  made  a  bright,  impressive  profes- 
sion of  saving  faith  in  Jesus  the  Christ,  and  passed 
away  in  less  than  a  week  from  the  transient  suf- 
ferings of  earth  to  the  immortal  joys  of  heaven. 
He  spoke  often,  freely,  beautifully,  and  confidently 
of  his  thorough  preparation  for  death  and  his  com- 
plete triumph  over  it. 

"Walk  with  me  through  the  dreadful  shades 

And,  certified  that  thou  art  mine, 
My  spirit,  calm  and  undismayed, 
I  shall  into  thy  hands  resign. 

No  anxious  doubt,  no  guilty  gloom, 

Shall  damp  whom  Jesus'  presence  cheers; 

My  light,  my  life,  my  God  is  come, 
And  glory  in  his  face  appears !" 


OCTOBER  eighth  to  fifteenth,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-nine,  has  arrived  in  the 
calendar  of  time;  and  a  year  ago  we  decided  by  our 
votes  that,  in  compliance  with  a  generous  invita- 
tion extended  by  the  good  citizens  of  Murfrees- 
boro  to  our  body,  we  would,  God  being  willing, 


166  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

hold  our  next  session  in  their  town,  and  so  here 
we  are  on  the  ground  doing  our  best  to  keep  our 
promises,  with  two  prelates  to  help  us,  Paine  and 
Doggett,  and  Dr.  Young  to  write  down  the  results. 
The  Bishop  appointed  this  preacher  to  the  Car- 
thage District  as  presiding  elder — what  a  surprise! 
He  felt  at  the  end  of  the  next  ten  minutes  as  if 
he  had  sweat  more,  thought  more,  and  prayed 
more  than  he  had  ever  done  before  in  his  life  in 
the  same  length  of  time.  He  had  no  fancy  what- 
ever for  being  assigned  to  district  work;  but  he 
determined  to  go  and  do  the  best  he  could.  So 
we — wife  and  I — packed  up  and  started  for  the  dis- 
trict. We  had  a  fine  year;  she  went  with  me  a  great 
deal  and  helped  me  much  in  my  work. 


OCTOBER  thirteenth  to  nineteenth,  inclu- 
sive, eighteen  hundred  and  eighty,  finds  us 
again  in  Pulaski,  with  Paine  to  do  the  work  and 
Bishop  McTyeire  to  see  it  well  done,  and  Dr. 
Young  to  keep  an  account  of  how  it  was  done. 
This  presiding  elder  went  into  the  cabinet  well- 
nigh  crushed  with  the  fearful  responsibility  of  pro- 
viding work  and  homes  for  a  whole  district  of 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  Lll<£.  167 

preachers,  and  that  awful  feeling  never  forsook 
him.  He  was  reappointecl  to  the  Carthage  Dis- 
trict, and  had  a  fine  year. 


INQUIRING  of  a  generous  and  hospitable-look- 
ing old  darky  after  a  good  place  at  which  he 
might  stop  for  the  night  and  get  his  horse  well 
cared  for,  Uncle  Eph  said,  with  an  air  of  boundless 
liberality:  "Jess  ride  yo'  hoss  right  up  dar  on  de 
hill,  an'  git  down  an'  hitch  'im  to  de  pos';  I'se  gwine 
to  be  dar  myself  d'rec'ly  an'  git  'im."  "Well,  if  I 
do  as  you  sav,  what  have  you  to  feed  him  on,  lit- 
tle nubbins  or  large  ears  of  corn?"  Uncle  Eph 
scratched  his  head  and  looked  a  little  puzzled  and 
displeased  that  such  a  question  should  be  put  to 
him  by  any  one,  and  answered  with  a  great  show 
of  conscious  dignity  and  self-importance:  "Well, 
now,  young  marster,  weel  gib  'im  cone,  yes  sur, 
dat's  w'at  weel  do;  why,  you  ought  to  jes'  go  down 
in  dat  fiel'  yander  yo'se'f  and  see  what  we's  got  dar, 
I  tells  you  de  b'essed  troof;  why,  de  long  years  is 
a-hanging  up  dar  on  de  stalks  like  big,  fat  raccoons 
fas'ened  dar  by  dey  tails — yes,  dat's  so,  shore's  I'se 
a  livin'  nigger!"  That  was  enough;  he  took  the 
old  man  at  his  word,  and  willingly  risked  him  for 


1 68  SI' \SHI.VE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  rest  of  the  contract's  fulfillment,  which  he,  with- 
out doubt,  performed  faithfully. 

OCTOBER  nineteenth  to  twenty-fourth, 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-one,  in  Leba- 
non at  9  A.M.,  Bishop  McTyeire  took  the  chair, 
called  the  Conference  to  order,  announced  a  hymn, 
read  a  scripture  lesson,  addressed  the  devout  body, 
and  went  to  business;  and  another  stormy  and  un- 
satisfactory session,  very  much  like  the  one  which 
he  held  in  Franklin  eight  years  previous,  followed. 
Bishop  McTyeire  was  the  prince  of  presiding  of- 
ficers in  the  Conference  room,  and  no  man  was 
more  tenderly  conscientious  in  stationing  the 
preachers  in  the  cabinet  work  than  was  he,  and  he 
made  as  few  blunders  as  any  of  them;  but  he  was  a 
man  of  strong  convictions,  and  he  had  the  courage 
to  carry  them  out,  which  was  not  always  pleasant 
to  the  preachers.  He  made  many  changes  in  the 
appointments  of  the  ministers.  He  returned  me 
to  the  district.  \Ye  had  a  pleasant  and  prosperous 
year. 

ONE  hot,  close,  sultry,  depressing  afternoon 
he  found  an  interesting  lad  upon  the  top  of 
the  mountain  in  trouble,  as  he  thought,  and,  feel- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  169 

ing  sorry  for  him  and  willing  to  help  him  out  of 
his  difficulty,  he  rode  up  slowly  to  where  he  was 
standing  in  an  apparently  confused  condition,  as 
if  he  were  studying  about  something,  and  did  not 
know  exactly  what  to  do  on  the  occasion,  for  he  had 
two  green,  inexperienced  yearlings  yoked  up  and 
hitched  to  a  small,  light  cart,  trying  to  break  them 
and  to  teach  them  how  to  work.  Now  it  was  im- 
mediately after  a  rain,  and  the  sun  had  shone  out 
hot  as  fire,  the  air  was  still,  sluggish,  lazy,  and  the 
heat  was  intense  and  almost  intolerable.  One  of 
the  calves,  from  worry,  exhaustion,  and  anger,  had 
dropped  himself  down  in  an  indifferent  lump  upon 
the  mud  and  water  in  the  road,  with  his  tongue 
lolled  out  at  full  length  and  breathing  as  if  he  were 
breathing  his  last.  Now  when  he  had,  as  he  sup- 
posed, fully  taken  in  the  unfavorable  situation  of 
affairs,  looking  steadily  with  great  tenderness  and 
sympathy  at  the  boy,  who  was  tall,  slender,  very 
lean  and  lank,  with  thin,  sallow  cheeks,  pale,  faded 
blue  eyes,  heavy,  asihen-colored  brows,  flaxen  hair, 
long,  sharp  nose,  large  red  ears,  gangling  legs,  and 
swinging  arms,  he  said  to  him  in  a  soft,  kind,  assur- 
ing way:  "My  young  friend,  I  can  tell  you  how  to 
get  that  calf  up  from  there.  You  see  he  cannot 
breathe  through  his  nostrils  and  mouth  at  will,  he 


i 70  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

can  only  breathe  through  his  nostrils,  so  if  you  will 
step  around  there  and  place  your  hand — he  had  big 
hands — firmly  over  his  nose  and  hold  it  there  a 
few  seconds,  you  wiH  cut  off  his  breath,  and  he  will 
come  up  quick  enough."  He  looked  directly  into 
my  face  with  an  expression  of  indescribable  con- 
tempt upon  his  thin,  curling  lip,  and  said  in  a  slow, 
drawling,  slothful  tone  of  voice,  "Dang  his  nose, 
I'll  twist  his  darned  tail;"  and,  suiting  the  action 
to  the  word,  he  seized  the  stubborn  beast  by  his 
defenseless  caudal  appendage  and  gave  it  two  or 
three  severe,  sharp  wrings  and  twirls  over  his  back, 
and  the  lubberly  brute  sprang  like  burning  light- 
ning to  his  feet,  with  his  dull  eyes  shining  with 
fury  and  his  clumsy  limbs  moving  nimbly,  show- 
ing himself  ready  for  instant  and  hasty  flight  from 
the  scene  of  his  sharp  pain  and  anguish. 


THE  Conference  met  in  Franklin  on  the  eight- 
eenth of  October,  and  adjourned  on  the 
twenty-third  of  the  month,  with  Bishop  Keener  in 
the  chair.  There  was  a  change  in  the  secretary: 
Dr.  W.  M.  Leftwich  was  selected  in  the  place  of 
Dr.  Young,  who  had  been  elected  consecutively 
eighteen  times,  extending  from  eighteen  hundred 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  UF£.  171 

and  sixty-two  down  to  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-two,  which  is  the  date  of  the  present  year — 
remember  that  the  Conference  failed  to  meet  two 
years,  during  the  War  between  the  States.  At  his 
own  request,  this  presiding  elder  was  reduced  to 
ranks,  and  placed  in  charge  of  Alex  Green  Circuit, 
with  the  Rev.  W.  D.  F.  Sawrie  as  his  presiding 
elder.  The  change  was  desired  because  his  health 
was  almost  broken  down,  and  his  home  was  in  the 
bounds  of  that  delightful  little  work,  and  he  wished 
to  go  there  so  as  to  recruit  and  build  himself  up 
again. 


DURING  the  summer  he  figured  in  a  little 
transaction  which  was  funny  and  gave  him  a 
fearful  fright  and  made  a  wiser  man  of  him.  One 
hot,  sultry  afternoon  he  harnessed  up  the  horses 
and  hitched  them  to  the  wagon  and  started  up  to 
the  top  of  a  high,  steep,  grassy  hill  to  get  some 
stove  wood,  which  he  had  had  prepared  for  cooking 
purposes.  Now,  a  profuse  rain  had  fallen  in  the 
morning  and  left  the  ground  slick  and  slippery,  so 
that  the  horses  found  it  difficult  to  keep  their 
footing  in  pulling;  and  when  they  had  gone 
about  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  the  troublesome 


172  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

hill,  one  of  the  animals  fell  on  a  smooth,  flat  rock 
and  considerably  damaged  one  of  her  knees,  so  he 
took  them  from  the  wagon  and  tied  them  to  the 
limb  of  a  tree,  and  then  got  upon  the  seat  and 
placed  his  hand  securely  on  the  brake,  intending 
to  slacken  it  a  little  so  as  to  let  the  wagon  slide 
gently  down  the  hill,  that  he  might  attach  the  team 
to  it  and  drive  back  to  the  house;  but  as  it  was  rath- 
er slow  and  indifferent  about  moving,  he  concluded 
to  release  the  brake  a  little  more,  when  all  at  once 
the  vehicle  seemed  to  bounce  clear  of  the  ground, 
as  if  driven  by  some  invisible  and  irresistible  force, 
and  shot  straight  down  the  hill  like  a  driving  bolt 
of  lightning;  and  with  the  first  violent  jerk  he  fell 
from  the  seat  flat  on  his  back  in  the  bottom  of  the 
bed  of  the  flying  machine,  and  lay  helplessly  there 
until  it  had  finished  its  course.  There  was  a  strong 
rail  fence  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  when  it  reached 
that  it  went  rushing  through  as  if  it  had  been  built 
of  straws,  leaving  several  panels  of  it  in  a  tangled 
heap,  as  if  it  had  been  struck  by  a  storm,  and  it 
never  checked  its  dizzy  speed  until  it  had  rushed 
wildly  across  the  field  and  landed  in  a  thicket  of 
bushes  and  briers;  there  it  'hung  up.  and  when  he 
had  struggled  to  his  feet  he  was  so  completely 
dazed  and  bewildered  by  the  extravagant  ride  that 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  173 

it  took  him  some  time  to  identify  and  locate  him- 
self. And,  strange  to  say,  he  does  not  yet  fully 
understand  why  one  may  not  loosen  the  brake  on 
a  wagon  and  permit  it  to  glide  slowly  and  smoothly 
down  the  rough  sides  of  a  steep  hill;  but  there  is 
not  a  living  man  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth  that 
would  be  farther  from  trying  the  foolish  experi- 
ment than  himself — no  inducement  whatever 
would  be  sufficient  to  get  him  into  it. 

THIS  year,  October  the  seventeenth  to  twenty- 
second,  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
the  Methodist  preachers  held  their  big  annual  con- 
clave in  the  town  of  Shelbyville,  with  Bishop  Pierce 
at  their  head,  and  Dr.  Leftwich  as  their  chosen  and 
ready  scribe.  The  Bishop  has  grown  old  and  is  in 
very  feeble  health,  but  still  he  remains  cheerful  and 
happy.  All  things  rounded  up  well.  This  circuit 
rider  was  sent  back  to  Alex  Green,  which  pleased 
him  much.  Dr.  R.  K.  Brown  was  placed  upon  the 
district  as  presiding  elder. 

M'KENDREE  Church,  in  Nashville,  had  the 
pleasure  of  entertaining  the  venerable  body 
of  godly  men  in  the  old  Jerusalem  Conference, 


1 74  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

with  Bishop  McTyeire  in  the  chair,  from  October 
the  eighth  to  the  fourteenth  clay  of  the  month, 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-four.  This  was  one 
of  the  most  pleasant  sessions  of  the  Conference, 
and  Dr.  Leftwich  made  a  record  of  it.  We  were 
appointed  to  Olivet  and  Pleasant  Hill,  in  Giles 
County,  with  the  Rev.  T.  J.  Duncan  for  our  pre- 
siding elder.  And  during  this  year,  at  the  invita- 
tion of  Brother  Burnett,  who  was  in  charge  of 
Alex  Green  Circuit,  this  old  pastor  went  back 
there  to  assist  in  a  protracted  meeting.  He  did  all 
the  preaching.  There  was  a  great  revival,  which 
resulted  in  the  conversion  of  about  sixty  persons, 
many  of  whom  were  advanced  in  life.  The  grand 
success  of  the  meeting  was,  in  a  large  measure, 
attributable  to  the  influence  and  efficient  efforts 
of  Capt.  Frank  Green,  who  was  then,  and  had  been 
for  years,  tfhe  Sunday  school  superintendent  at  that 
place.  He  also  had  fine  meetings  at  both  the 
churches  in  his  own  charge. 


THERE  was  a  family  of  fine,  well-cultured  peo- 
ple living  in  the  bounds  of  his  charge,  with 
whom  he  had  become  intimately  acquainted.  They 
attended  his  meetings;  but  they  did  not  believe  in 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  175 

the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Methodist  Church 
at  all,  and  he  knew  this,  for  he  had  often  conversed 
with  them  and  had  heard  them  express  themselves 
freely  on  the  subject.  However,  as  the  meeting 
progressed,  the  lady  became  profoundly  concerned 
about  her  condition;  and  she  frankly  told  her  hus- 
band that  she  was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  her 
relations  to  God  in  spiritual  matters,  and  that  she 
was  becoming  more  seriously  disturbed  in  that  di- 
rection daily.  He  gave  her  no  comfort  nor  encour- 
agement. So  one  morning  as  he  was  calling  for 
penitents  to  come  forward  to  the  altar  for  prayer 
and  instruction,  she  arose  and  came  up  and  was 
manifestly  in  great  agony  of  soul  and  anxiously 
seeking  salvation  from  sin.  Her  husband  came  and 
requested  him  to  converse  with  his  wife.  He  re- 
plied to  him  by  saying:  "I  am  perfectly  willing  to 
comply  with  your  wish  if  you  will  go  with  me  and 
listen  to  what  I  have  to  say  to  her."  "No,"  he 
responded,  "I  cannot  do  that,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  I  do  not  believe  in  such  things."  So  nothing 
was  said  to  her.  The  next  morning  she  was  back 
again  in  her  place,  weeping  bitterly  and  pleading 
aloud  for  pardon;  her  husband  urged  him  to  go  and 
tell  her  what  to  do  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  her 
sins,  and  he  answered,  "I  will,  if  you  will  go  with 


176  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

me;"  and  without  a  word  of  objection  they  walked 
together  to  where  she  was,  the  preacher  taking 
his  position  upon  one  side  of  the  lady  and  the  hus- 
band seating  himself  on  the  other  side  of  her;  and 
when  the  preacher  commenced  talking  to  her,  the 
husband  took  the  whole  matter  at  once  to  himself 
and  began  exhorting  his  wife  with  great  earnest- 
ness and  zeal  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  to  obtain 
remission;  and  while  he  was  yet  doing  this,  he  sud- 
denly jumped  up  and  shouted  aloud  for  joy,  and 
all  at  once  turning,  and  looking  at  the  startled 
preacher,  he  said:  "Did  you  see  that?  I  was  tell- 
ing her  how  to  get  it,  and  I  got  it  myself."  Just 
at  that  juncture  his  wife  sprang  to  her  feet  and 
joined  him  in  the  shout,  and  they  continued  for 
some  time  rejoicing  and  praising  the  Lord  with 
gladness  and  singleness  of  heart. 


o 

assist 


NE  evening  he  was  preaching  for  a  minis- 
terial brother,  whom  he  had  promised  to 
assist  in  a  protracted  meeting,  and  while  calling 
mourners  he  had  an  unmistakable  presentiment 
that  there  was  at  that  time  somebody  in  the  room 
who  was  receiving  his  last  invitation  that  he  would 
ever  g«t  in  this  life;  and,  so  powerful  and  vivid  was 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LITE.  177 

the  impression  on  his  mind  that  such  was  the  case, 
he  became  intensely  personal  in  making  his  appeal. 
There  were  two  young  men  sitting  together  on  a 
pew  directly  in  front  of  him,  who,  though  behaving 
well  and  giving  close  attention,  still  attracted  his 
special  notice.    So  he  urged  them  strongly  to  ac- 
cept the  offer  of  mercy  at  once,  reminding  them 
of  the  solemn  fact  that  it  might  be  their  last  op- 
portunity on  this  side  of  the  grave.     Now,  when 
the   services   closed   and   they    were   leaving   the 
church,  his  wife  remarked  to  him:  "Mr.  Jackson,  I 
am  sorry  that  you  made  that  appeal  as  you  did 
to-night.     It  was  not  like  you  at  all  to  do  that. 
Really,  it  must  have  been  embarrassing  to  those 
young  gentlemen."    He  hardly  knew  what  to  say; 
but,  after  pausing  for  a  few  moments  to  think,  he 
replied:  "I  cannot  tell  why  I  did  it,  for  I  do  not 
know  myself;  but  I  could  not  refrain  from  speak- 
ing after  that  manner."    And  when  they  had  got- 
ten themselves  seated  in  the  buggy,  and  were  ready 
to  move  off,  these  same  young  men  came  dashing 
by  on  their  horses  at  rapid  speed,  and  when  they 
had  gone  about  one  mile  from  that  place  one  of 
the  horses  lost  his  footing  and  fell  sprawling  on 
the  side  of  the  road  and  pitched  his  unfortunate 
rider  headlong  against  a  strong,  rough  stone  wall, 
12 


1 78  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

which  had  been  built  there  for  a  fence,  killing  him 
instantly.  As  soon  as  we  reached  the  fatal  spot 
and  learned  the  cause  of  the  great  excitement 
among  the  people,  he  knew,  without  the  faintest 
doubt,  that  the  sad  occurrence  was  the  only  true 
solution  to  his  strange  feelings  in  the  church. 

"  Tis  not  for  man  to  trifle:  life  is  brief, 

And  sin  is  here. 
Our  age  is  1>ut  the  falling  of  a  leaf, 

A  dropping  tear. 
We  have  no  time  to  sport  away  the  hours ; 

All  must  be  in  earnest  in  a  world  like  ours." 

^ 


ON  October  seventh  to  thirteenth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-five,  the  formidable 
saddlebags,  Bible,  and  hymn  book  force  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  Mij 
Tennessee,  are  in  council  with  each  other, 
best  methods  and  plans  for  carryiiij 
crusade  against  all  manner  of  wj 
and  low  places  throughout  the  land ;  and  Columbia 
is  the  happy  town  in  which  they  are  at  present 
quartered,  under  the  command  of  Bishop  Wilson 
as  presiding  officer  and  Bishop  McTyeire  as  distin- 
guished visitor.  We  were  appointed  to  Sparta, 
with  the  Rev.  T.  L.  Moody  for  our  presiding  elder. 


PPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  179 

The  preacher's  sphere  of  success  this  year  seemed 
confined  mainly  to  the  children,  of  whom  he  re- 
ceived about  thirty  into  the  church,  extending  from 
five  to  thirteen  years  of  age. 


jfr  HILE  preaching  in  that  excellent  and 
thrifty  little  mountain  town,  he  was  very 
much  interested  in  the  temperance  cause,  and  en- 
gaged constantly  in  speaking  and  organizing  so- 
cieties all  over  the  country.  Now  it  happened  that 
a  gentleman  living  away  over  on  the  mountain  was 
at  one  of  his  meetings,  and,  appearing  to  be  very 
much  pleased  with  the  proceedings,  came  to  him 
just  after  he  had  finished  instituting  a  promising 
lodge  of  teetotakrs,  and  gave  him  a  very  warm  and 
pressing  invitation  to  come  to  his  neighborhood 
and  do  as  much  for  his  people.  And  when  he  con- 
sented to  comply  with  his  most  reasonable  request 
at  some  convenient  and  suitable  time,  he  insisted 
that  he  fix  the  time  then  and  there,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  able  to  properly  circulate  it  and  get 
him  up  a  big  crowd.  So,  after  duly  consulting  his 
memoranda  and  calendar,  he  settled  upon  an  after- 
noon of  a  certain  Sunday  which  was  several  weeks 
ahead  of  him.  Sometime  after  entering  into  this 


i8o  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

agreement,  he  chanced  to  mention  it  in  a  conversa- 
tion with  a  friend,  who,  on  hearing  of  it,  entreated 
him  to  break  the  engagement  at  once,  and  warned 
him  of  the  imminent  danger  he  would  be  in  and  the 
great  risk  he  would  run  of  losing  his  life  if  he  should 
undertake  to  keep  his  promise;  but  he  did  not  think 
very  seriously  of  the  matter,  and  soon  dismissed 
it  almost  entirely  from  his  mind.  And  when  the 
day  appointed  came  around,  he  mounted  a  good 
saddle  horse  and  put  out  for  the  place,  and  when 
he  was  approaching  it  this  same  identical  individ- 
ual, accompanied  by  about  three  of  his  associates, 
came  forth  and  met  him  some  distance  from  the 
little  cabin  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  where  the 
speaking  was  to  be  done,  and,  with  a  threatening 
manner  and  in  an  ominous  tone  of  voice,  said: 
"Look  here,  parson,  I  reckon  you'd  better  not  light 
here,  you'd  better  stay  up  there  on  your  creeter, 
you'd  better  not  get  down  amongst  us;  we  know 
our  own  business,  and  don't  intend  to  have  any  of 
your  sass  in  it,  you  hear  that,  don't  you?"  And 
while  he  was  indulging  in  this  bulldozing  and  in- 
timidating tirade,  he  kept  at  regular  intervals 
throwing  his  coat  tail  around  so  as  to  display  in 
the  most  alarming  way  a  tremendous  old  pistol 
which  was  sticking  out  of  the  pocket  of  the  short 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  181 

garment  he  had,  which  was  made  somewhat  after 
the  style  of  a  pea-jacket.  Now  that  gun  somehow 
or  other  had  a  most  demoralizing  effect  upon  the 
preacher's  feelings.  Every  time  he  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  thing  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  grow- 
ing mighty  fast.  At  last  to  his  distorted  vision  it 
looked  about  like  a  mountain  howitzer.  And  then 
he  was  annoyed  with  a  painful  chilliness  which 
seized  upon  the  tips  of  his  fingers  and  the  ends  of 
his  toes  and  went  creeping  up  his  arms  and  legs 
toward  his  body.  And  the  disregarded  advice  of  his 
friend  came  with  great  force  and  pathos  to  his  mind. 
He  had  no  time  to  lose;  he  knew  that  he  could  not 
remain  on  his  horse,  turn  back,  or  press  forward. 
He  had  to  face  the  danger  whether  he  wanted  to 
or  not,  and  he  was  not  slow  in  reaching  his  con- 
clusions and  adopting  his  measures  to  meet  the 
dreadful  emergency.  Having  decided  upon  his 
course,  in  the  act  of  dismounting  he  said  to  his 
boisterous  antagonist:  "Come,  my  friend,  and  let 
me  tell  you  what  sort  of  a  speech  I  wish  to  make 
here  now  if  you  will  let  me  do  it;  and  after  I  have 
explained  to  you  the  matter,  if  you  say  I  shall  not 
speak  I  will  not  attempt  it.  All  I  ask  for  is  fair 
play."  He  came  sauntering  up  to  him  alone,  and 
he  said  to  him  in  a  very  earnest  way:  "Listen  to 


i»2  "SWfSHrNE  AKD  SffADE  /  V 

me;  I  am  opposed  to  the  government  licensing 
these  men  down  in  the  valley  because  they  have 
plenty  of  money  to  build  big  distilleries  ami  open 
fine  saloons,  and  then  sending  a  parcel  of  revenue 
officers  up  here  in  the  mountains  to  shoot  you  peo- 
ple down  like  a  herd  of  wild  hogs  just  because  you 
are  making  a  little  wild-cat  or  moonshine  whisky; 
and  that  is  what  I  desire  to  say  here  this  evening 
if  you  will  allow  me  to  do  it."  He  looked  him 
steadily  and  inquiringly  in  the  eyes  for  a  few  sec- 
onds and,  with  a  quizzical  grin  on  his  face,  said: 
"Now,  parson,  are  you  right  sure  that  you  are 
telling  the  truth  about  this  thing?"  To  which  he 
replied:  "That  is  exactly  what  I  will  do  if  I  can 
get  your  consent."  Then  turning  toward  the  three 
men,  whom  he  had  left  standing  a  few  paces  away 
from  him,  he  call-ed  out  in  a  loud  voice:  "Come 
here,  boys;  why,  by  jingo,  he's  one  of  our  crowd; 
he's  not  agin  us  at  all.  he's  on  our  side."  As  they 
moved  on  toward  the  little  old  log  schoolhouse 
where  several  hundreds  of  people  were  gathered 
to  hear  the  speaking,  the  preacher  said:  "I  see  that 
you  are  a  person  of  influence  in  this  country,  and 
I  want  you  to  introduce  me  to  the  folks  and  tell 
them  what  sort  of  a  speech  I  am  going  to  make;" 
to  which  he  quickly  responded,  "You  are  mighty 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  183 

right  about  that;  why.  I've  been  constable  here 
twice."  He  was  soon  presented  as  one  of  their 
crowd  and  as  being  on  their  side,  and  he  proceeded 
at  once  in  his  speech  to  pour  hot  shot  into  the  big 
distilleries  and  fine  saloons  down  in  the  rich  valley 
region  of  the  State,  and  to  shell  at  long  range  with 
a  tremendous  show  of  zeal  and  patriotism  the 
revenue  squads  prowling  over  the  mountains  hunt- 
ing for  the  contraband  establishments  on  the  hills 
and  in  the  hollows,  when  they  might  be  going  after 
greater  offenders.  And  at  the  close  of  his  fiery 
harangue,  he  handed  a  small  blank  book  with  a 
pencil  to  his  friend  and  assistant  to  take  the  names 
of  those  who  were  willing  to  join  the  lodge  to  be 
organized.  He  went  out  putting  down  the  names 
of  all  just  as  he  came  to  them,  and  when  the  speaker 
said,  "That  is  sufficient,"  he  responded  with  a  tri- 
umphant look  on  his  face:  ''Shucks,  I  can  get  all  of 
'em  if  you  want  'em."  But  the  preacher  insisted 
that  he  should  leave  the  others  to  be  taken  in  by 
himself  at  some  future  time,  and  as  the  names  were 
called  out  he  formed  them  into  a  sort  of  semicircle, 
and  without  book  or  ritual  he  pledged  them  to  op- 
pose bitterly  and  forever  in  all  worthy  and  honor- 
able ways  all  the  big  distilleries  and  fine  saloons  in 


184  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

the  land.     It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  that 
lodge  was  never  reported. 


OCTOBER  sixth  to  twelfth,  eighteen  hundred 
and  eighty-six,  Clarksville  has  us  again,  and 
we  have  Clarksville;  we  also  have  Bishop  E.  R. 
Hendrix,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  with  us  to  see  that 
we  are  orderly  and  behave  well,  and  Dr.  Leftwich 
to  keep  a  big  diary  of  the  whole  matter.  It  is  the 
first  time  that  Bishop  Hendrix  has  had  charge  of 
the  Tennessee  Conference.  We  were  appointed  to 
Winchester  Station.  We  went  at  once  to  our  new 
field,  and  began  to  cultivate  it.  The  year  was  a 
pleasant  and  useful  one  in  every  way. 

THE  Conference  met  in  Gallatin  on  October 
the  twelfth,  and  broke  up  camp  on  the  eight- 
eenth day  of  that  month,  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-seven,  with  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  of  Balti- 
more, in  the  chair  to  see  that  all  things  were  done 
decently  and  in  order  by  and  among  the  brethren. 
It  was  a  fine  session  of  the  ecclesiastical  conven- 
tion. We  were  returned  to  Winchester,  where  we 
spent  a  fine  year.  There  was  a  steady  advance 
movement  in  all  the  enterprises  of  the  Church. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  185 

BISHOP  KEENER  called  the  Conference  to 
order  in  the  good  old  town  of  Fayetteville 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth 
of  October,  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-eight, 
and  proceeded  to  open  the  body  in  the  regular  way, 
with  music,  prayer,  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  an  episcopal  address  to  the  brethren;  and  after 
a  very  harmonious  session  of  six  days,  he  proceeded 
to  close  the  anxious  assembly  on  the  twenty- 
second  day  of  the  month  by  reading  out  the  ap- 
pointments, during  which  important  prelatical  per- 
formance this  scribe  learned  that  he  was  to  spend 
another  year  with  the  good  folks  in  Winchester, 
which  was  exactly  to  his  liking. 


THE  Conference  was  convened  in  Murfrees- 
boro  October  ninth  to  fourteenth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-nine,  by  Bishop  Keener,  and 
Bishop  Hargrove  was  present  as  a  visitor.  It  was  an 
animated  but  in  the  main  pleasant  session  of  the  old 
Jerusalem  body.  There  were  some  pretty  warm  dis- 
cussions, but  they  invariably  terminated  in  an  amica- 
ble manner.  This  preacher  was  happy  to  find  him- 
self sent  to  the  Springfield  Station.  We  had  a 
fine  year.  We  made  some  important  and  expen- 


1 86  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

sive  improvements  upon  the  church  building,  and 
also  had  some  valuable  additions  to  the  member- 
ship of  the  society.  The  Rev.  \V.  R.  Peebles  was 
our  presiding  elder. 


THE  Conference  met  in  Pulaski  October 
eighth  to  fifteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety,  with  Bishop  Hargrove  in  the  chair,  and  Dr. 
Leftwich  at  the  secretary's  desk.  The  session  was 
rather  stormy  and  unsatisfactory.  The  brethren 
were  not  very  well  pleased  with  the  disposition  of 
things  either  in  the  Conference  room  or  in  the  cabi- 
net. This  pastor  was  again  plucked  from  the 
ranks  of  the  ministry  and  put  on  the  Shelbyville 
District.  He  had  a  successful  year. 


O,  NE  fine  Sunday  morning  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  he  preached  out  in  the  open  air,  with 
the  soft,  bright,  blue  fields  of  light  lying  around 
him  in  bold  and  beautiful  relief  in  every  direction, 
while  he  stood  upon  the  mountain  side  filled  with 
sacred  awe  and  gazing  with  insatiable  delight  upon 
the  gorgeous  scenery  of  nature  spreading  out 
in  careless,  romantic  display  all  about  him,  breath- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  187 

ing  an  atmosphere  as  pure  and  salubrious  as  was 
ever  blown  by  the  toying  winds  of  heaven  across 
the  rugged  face  of  the  earth  and  richly  laden  with 
sweet  perfume,  freshly  lifted  from  seemingly 
boundless  bowers  of  radiant  wild  honeysuckles  in 
full  bloom  and  proudly  flaunting  their  gay  colors 
in  the  smiling  face  of  the  lovely  day  and  listening 
to  the  playful  squirrels  chattering  among  the  trees 
and  the  happy  birds  filling  the  woods  with  enchant- 
ing music  from  their  merry  little  throats,  and  feel- 
ing that  God  was  looking  down  complacently  upon 
all  his  mighty  works.  He  preached  that  day  from 
the  words:  "Follow  me.  And  he  forsook  all,  and 
rose  up  and  followed  him."  (Luke  v.  27,  28.) 
While  he  was  insisting  strenuously  and  earnestly 
upon  the  principle  and  fact  that,  if  any  one  can  only 
get  the  full  consent  of  his  mind  to  abandon  all  and 
follow  Christ,  the  battle  is  over,  the  victory  is  won, 
and  salvation  is  begun.  A  poor,  drunken,  besotted 
man,  with  all  the  fearful  marks  of  dissipation  and 
debauchery  upon  him,  who  was  sitting  right  in 
front  of  the  speaker,  listening  with  undivided  at- 
tention to  the  sermon,  after  considerable  effort 
arose  and,  steadying  himself  upon  his  feet,  said  with 
a  tremulous,  hesitating  voice:  "Parson,  this  is  the 
first  time  that  it  has  been  put  to  me  in  such  a  way 


1 88  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

that  I  could  take  it;  but  I  am  ready  now,  I  accept 
the  terms."  This  completely  nonplused  the 
preacher,  and,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  he  re- 
marked: "Well,  my  friend,  just  be  seated  a  few 
minutes  till  I  can  finish  my  discourse,  and  then  we 
will  talk  about  the  matter."  But  he  instantly  re- 
plied: "Parson,  that  is  not  what  you  said;  you  said 
right  now,  and  right  now  I  am  ready."  Seeing 
that  he  would  not  be  put  off,  but  rather  persisted 
in  urging  his  claim,  the  preacher  suspended  every- 
thing else  and  proceeded  to  baptize  and  take  him 
into  the  Church.  He  then  administered  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper;  but  many  of  the  old 
communicants  were  conspicuously  absent  from  the 
table  because  of  the  presence  of  the  new  one,  and 
some  of  the  officials  were  so  much  displeased  with 
the  transaction  that  they  threatened  to  go  out  if 
he  remained  in.  Now  dinner  was  served  on  the 
ground;  and  immediately  after  dining  the  minis- 
ter invited  the  gentleman  just  received  to  walk 
with  him.  He  readily  consented,  but  was  so  much 
intoxicated  that  he  could  scarcely  get  along  at  all. 
And  when  they  had  gone  some  distance  in  the 
woods,  away  from  the  sight  and  hearing  of  the 
crowd,  he  commenced  a  conversation  with  him 
about  the  occurrence  of  the  morning,  and,  finding 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  189 

to  his  entire  satisfaction  that  he  was  perfectly  sen- 
sible of  all  that  he  had  done,  and  that  he  was 
honest,  sincere,  and  conscientious  in  the  under- 
taking, he  began  to  have  more  confidence  in  the 
movement  himself.  And  he  took  special  pains  to 
explain  to  him  how  he  would  have  to  live  and  con- 
duct himself  so  as  to  be  happy  and  useful  and  gain 
the  respect  and  favor  of  his  neighbors;  he  reminded 
him  that,  like  a  little  child  learning  to  walk,  he 
would  fall  down  in  the  dust  and  upon  the  rocks 
and  get  soiled  and  bruised,  but  that  he  must  get 
up  again  and  continue  to  try  until  he  could  walk 
steady  and  run  fast.  He  consented  to  all  this  and 
promised  to  perform  it.  Then  he  was  requested  to 
give  up  the  whisky  if  he  had  any  of  it  with  him, 
and  he  surrendered  a  small  flask  which  was  about 
half  full  and  which  the  preacher  flung  upon  the 
ground,  breaking  it;  and  then  asked  him  if  he  had 
any  more.  He  answered  yes;  and  when  told  to 
hand  it  out,  slowly  and  reluctantly  brought  out 
another  little  bottle  which  was  full,  and,  holding  it 
in  his  trembling  hand,  said:  ''Parson,  if  I  give  this 
up,  how  am  I  going  to  taper  off?"  It  was  a  pa- 
thetic sight;  but  the  preacher  responded  promptly: 
"You  are  not  going  to  taper  off  at  all;  you  are 
going  to  quit;  you  must  stop  this  business  at  once; 


190  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

you  cannot  be  a  good  man  and  drink  whisky."  So 
that  bottle  was  also  dashed  to  the  earth  and  broken 
to  pieces.  Then  they  knelt  down  together  and 
prayed  fervently  to  God  for  all  needed  grace  and 
help,  after  which  they  arose  and  went  back  and 
joined  the  company.  The  preacher  took  his  ad- 
dress and  kept  up  a  regular  correspondence  with 
him;  and  about  one  year  afterwards,  at  the  fourth 
Quarterly  Conference,  he  was  nominated  by  the 
pastor  for  the  stewardship,  was  elected,  and  made 
a  faithful  and  efficient  officer  in  the  Church. 


BISHOP  WILSON  opened  the  Conference 
in  regular  session  in  West  End  Church  on 
the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  and 
closed  it  on  the  third  day  of  the  following  Novem- 
ber, eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-one.  The  session 
was  animated  and  interesting  from  start  to  finish. 
\Ve  had  a  change  of  secretaries.  Rev.  B.  F.  Haynes 
was  elected  instead  of  Dr.  Leftwich,  who  had  held 
the  place  for  nine  successive  years.  This  presid- 
ing elder  was  returned  to  the  Shelbyville  District. 
He  was  blessed  with  success  in  all  the  departments 
of  his  work. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  191 

WE  are  again  in  the  city  of  rocks  attending 
Conference,  October  nineteenth  to  twenty- 
fifth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-two,  with  Bish- 
op C.  B.  Galloway,  of  Mississippi,  occupying  the 
chair  of  episcopal  authority,  and  Brother  Haynes 
to  write  things  down.  It  was  a  good  session  of 
the  consecrated  body;  all  things  were  done  de- 
cently, timely,  and  in  order;  and  this  presiding  elder 
was  not  disgruntled  in  the  least  degree  whatever 
when  he  was  officially  informed  by  the  public  an- 
nouncement from  the  mouth  of  the  Bishop,  which 
had  evidently  been  "touched  by  a  live  coal  from 
off  the  altar,"  that  he  would  go  back  for  another 
year  to  the  Shelby ville  District;  and  he  had  a 
good,  pleasant,  and  prosperous  time,  too. 


THIS  year,  October  eighteenth  to  twenty- 
fourth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three, 
the  Conference  was  heM  in  Lebanon  by  Bishop 
Keener.  The  session  was  a  little  blustery  and 
gusty.  Delegates  were  elected  to  the  General  Con- 
ference in  addition  to  the  regular  routine  business 
of  the  venerable  assembly.  In  his  wisdom  and  god- 
ly judgment  the  Bishop  saw  proper  to  send  this 
presiding  elder  back  to  the  Shelbyville  District 


192  SUNSHINE  .4X0  SHADE  IN 

to  finish  up  his  fourth  year  there,  which  he  did  as 
well  as  he  could. 


THE  various  subordinate  officers  in  command 
of  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  in  the  bounds  of 
the  Tennessee  Conference,  with  Bishop  W.  W. 
Duncan  in  charge  to  direct  their  measures  and 
movements  against  the  opposers  of  righteousness 
for  another  year,  are  in  sacred  and  public  conven- 
tion in  the  splendid  old  town  of  Franklin  from  the 
seventeenth  to  the  twenty-second  of  October, 
eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-four.  They  had  a 
good  time  for  six  religiously  hilarious  and  happy 
days  with  their  chief  commander  and  those  who 
kept  up  the  camp  fires  and  furnished  the  daily 
rations  for  the  gospel  troopers.  This  subaltern  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  forces  operating  in  the 
territory  covered  by  the  Murfreesboro  District. 
He  had  a  fine  year. 


A  MOTHER  was  bereaved  and  broken-hearted. 
Death  had  come  into  her  home  and  removed 
from  her  tender  embraces  her  little  boy,  only  about 
three  and  a  half  years  of  age.   He  was  an  unusually 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  193 

bright,  interesting,  promising  child,  the  pet  of  the 
house  and  the  idol  of  her  heart.  And  he  died  sud- 
denly— sick  but  a  few  hours.  When  the  angels 
came  and  got  him,  the  cheerful  light  of  life  faded 
from  her  sad  soul,  and  it  seemed  that  it  had  gone 
out  never  to  be  kindled  up  again.  All  but  herself 
thought  her  grief  excessive.  Her  friends  tried  in 
vain  to  comfort  her.  She  brooded  over  her  sorrow 
with  a  strange  endearment  until  those  who  loved 
her  became  anxious  about  her  condition.  The 
toys  that  he  played  with  while  living  were  care- 
fully collected  and  arranged  in  a  room,  into  which 
the  doting  mother  would  go  and  gaze  upon  them 
with  weeping  eyes  for  long,  melancholy  hours. 
But  the  good  Lord  sent  another  charming  little 
cherub  into  her  arms  to  chase  the  dreary  gloom 
from  her  desolate  life  and  bring  the  long-lost  smile 
back  to  her  withered  face.  But,  with  all  this,  she 
still  persistently  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  con- 
tinued to  cling  to  her  grief  with  an  unaccountable 
affection  which  was  painfully  pathetic.  Standing 
in  the  clear,  bright  morning  light  with  her  spot- 
less, innocent  babe  pressed  fondly  to  her  aching 
heart,  and  her  noble  husband  close  to  her  side,  she 
said  to  the  preacher:  "Is  not  my  precious  little  boy 
sweet  now?"  And,  quick  as  a  flash  of  inspiration 


194  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

from  heaven,  there  came  into  his  mind  the  startling 
impression  that  he  too  must  pass  immediately 
from  the  contaminations  and  cares  of  earth  to  the 
perpetual  purity  and  pleasures  of  heaven.  And 
fully  under  the  conscious  influence  of  this  divine 
revelation,  he  could  not  refrain  from  suggesting  to 
the  exultant  mother  the  near  approach  of  that  awful 
hour  of  bitterness  and  death.  Looking  compas- 
-  sionately  upon  her,  he  answered:  "Yes,  he  is;  and  I 
should  think  that  in  him,  at  least  in  a  measure,  you 
are  finding  a  compensation  for- the  loss  of  the  other 
one,  especially  when  you  must  know  that  he  has 
happily  escaped  the  pollutions  and  troubles  of  this 
Ufe.  which  are  so  hard  to  be  borne."  Tears  began 
to  flow  from  her  eyes  as,  with  plaintive,  trembling 
voice,  she  said:  "No,  no;  that  can  never  be;  I  can 
never  bow  submissively  to  his  death;  it  is  too  hard 
that  I  have  to  give  him  up."  He  quoted  the  words 
of  the  Saviour:  "Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God."  (Mark  x.  14.)  Then  added: 
"Murmur  not :  give  your  children  up  to  your  Lord. 
He  can  take  better  care  of  them  than  you  can;  he 
can  do  more  for  them  than  you  will  ever  be  able  to 
do;  yes,  infinitely  more  and  better."  Before  that 
week  closed  the  fair,  immortal  bud  was  plucked  by 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  195 

the  cold  fingers  of  death  from  the  frail  stem  of 
mortality  and  transplanted  by  celestial  messengers 
to  the  beautiful  paradise  of  God's  delights,  to  bloom 
in  eternal  glory  and  freshness.  Over  the  little 
white  casket,  containing  the  precious  remains  of 
that  angelic  babe,  the  smitten  father  found  Jesus 
in  the  pardon  of  his  sins,  and  for  the  first  time  felt 
the  untold  raptures  of  everlasting  life;  and  his  faith- 
ful wife,  kneeling  in  perfect,  joyous  resignation 
his  side,  with  her  radiant  countenance  beaming 
with  the  unfading  splendor  of  a  blessed  hope  of  an 
eternal  reunion  with  her  sinless  children  in  the  far- 
away palace  of  her  Father  in  glory,  whispered: 

"The  grave  grows  green,  the  flowers  bloom  fair. 

Above  that  head ; 
No  sorrowing  tint  of  leaf  or  spray 
Says  he  is  dead. 

Not  dead,  not  sleeping,  not  even  gone ; 

But  present  still, 
And  waiting  for  the  coming  hour 

Of  God's  sweet  will. 

The  veil,  the  veil !  so  thin,  so  strong, 

'Twixt  us  and  thee ; 
The  mystic  veil !  when  shall  it  fall, 

That  \ve  may  see?" 


196  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

FOR  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  spunky 
little  town,  the  whole  of  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference is  quartered  snugly  as  you  please  in  Win- 
chester for  a  six  days'  stay,  October  twenty-third  to 
twenty-eighth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five, 
and  they  were  never  better  cared  for  anywhere. 
Bishop  Wilson  was  in  charge  of  the  holy  gospel 
propagandists,  and  he  handled  them  without 
gloves.  He  thought  changes  ought  to  be  made, 
and  he  did  not  stand  upon  the  making  of  them. 
With  lofty,  unflinching  bravery  he  revised  the 
whole  helpless  body,  cabinet  and  all.  He  easily 
repealed  some  acts  and  as  readily  passed  some 
others.  But  perhaps  it  all  turned  out  in  the  end 
for  the  better,  as  under  the  restraining  and  over- 
ruling providence  of  Almighty  God  the  selfish  sale 
of  Joseph  by  his  unkind  and  dominant  brethren 
was  made  a  blessing  to  the  unoffending  nation. 
No  one  doubts  the  Bishop's  good  intentions,  but 
even  these  could  not  save  the  grave  prelate  from 
mistakes.  We  also  had  a  change  in  the  secretary- 
ship. By  the  vote  of  the  Conference,  Brother 
Haynes,  who  had  served  a  full  quadrennium,  was 
substituted  by  Brother  L.  R.  Amis.  This  presid- 
ing elder  was  reduced  to  the  ranks,  and  placed  in 
charge  of  Murfreesboro  Station. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  197 

ONE  Sunday  night  in  Murfreesboro  he  had  a 
premonition  that  something  unusual  was 
going  to  take  place  at  the  church  during  that  serv- 
ice. He  had  no  special  reason  for  this  uncommon 
expectancy  further  than  the  clear  intimation  which 
came  unto  him  while  he  was  preparing  his  ser- 
mon for  the  occasion,  and  which  he  could  attribute 
alone  to  a  divine  source.  Often  he  has  been  con- 
scious that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  guiding  him  by 
his  influence,  shed  directly  upon  him,  in  the  selec- 
tion of  his  text,  and  so  aiding  him  in  its  treatment 
as  to  make  it  effective  in  the  salvation  of  the  hearer. 
And  at  the  time  of  which  he  is  now  speaking, 
as  soon  as  he  took  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  the  text 
was  forcibly  presented  to  his  mind;  and  at  once 
he  recognized  the  presence  of  his  infallible  Help- 
er, felt  assured,  and  yielded  to  all  his  suggestions. 
The  scripture,  which  brightened  to  his  view  and 
glowed  with  evident  light  from  heaven,  was:  "And 
the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding, 
shall  guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts  in 
Christ  Jesus."  (Phil.  iv.  7.)  He  felt  satisfied  that, 
from  the  way  things  cleared  up  and  came  flashing 
from  all  disorder  and  confusion  into  the  luminous 
arrangements  and  attractions  of  inspired  truth, 
God  was  opening  the  way  for  some  grand  develop- 


198  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

ment.  As  he  went  into  the  church  and  walked  up 
to  the  pulpit,  his  whole  spiritual  nature  was  thor- 
oughly thrilled  with  the  rapturous  sense  of  the  in- 
visible and  invincible  presence  and  power  of  his 
divine  Lord,  who  seemed  still  whispering  to  his 
pliable  and  confiding  spirit:  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  (Matt, 
xxviii.  20.)  The  whole  matter  was  made  clear  at  the 
end  of  the  discourse,  when  a  young  gentleman  from 
another  State,  who  was  a  traveling  salesman,  came 
with  his  face  all  aglow  with  the  transporting  joys 
of  a  knowledge  of  pardoned  sin,  and,  taking  him 
by  the  hand,  said:  "Sir,  I  have  come  to  tell  you 
that  God  has  wonderfully  and  mercifully  saved  me 
to-night.  I  do  not  often  go  to  church;  but  I  hap- 
pened to  come  around  here  to-night,  and  I  am  glad 
that  I  came.  I  am  as  happy  as  I  can  be,  and  I  felt 
like  I  ought  to  come  and  let  you  know  what  the 
Lord  has  done  for  me  before  leaving  the  house." 


WELL,  here  we  are  back  in  old  McKendree 
Church    again,     October    twenty-first    to 
twenty-eighth,   eighteen   hundred  and   ninety-six, 
with  Bishop  John  C.  Granbery  in  authority  to  con- 
duct things  safely  through.    Matters  moved  direct- 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  199 

ly  and  steadily  forward — sometimes  quietly  and  at 
other  times  somewhat  boisterously — from  the 
opening  session  until  the  appointments  were  read 
out.  And  then  it  was  found  that  this  itinerant 
was  assigned  to  the  Shelbyville  Station.  The  ar- 
rangement suited  him  well,  and  he  got  along  all 
right  in  that  nice  little  charge. 

OCTOBER  twentieth  to  twenty-fifth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  ninety-seven,  the  Conference 
came  together  to  hold  their  great  yearly  convention 
in  Shelbyville,  with  Bishop  Hendrix  in  the  chair, 
and  Brother  Amis  as  scribe.  Bishop  Keener  was 
expected  to  have  presided  over  the  body,  but  was 
prevented  from  doing  it  on  account  of  the  yellow 
fever,  which  had  broken  out  in  New  Orleans,  the 
place  of  his  home.  This  pastor  was  sent  to  Trinity, 
a  pleasant  little  charge  in  the  East  Nashville  District, 
which  he  liked. 

IN  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-seven  he  was  de- 
coyed into  the  lecturing  field  just  long  enough 
to  deliver  a  dissertation  on  "The  Honorableness 
of  Manual   Labor,"   which   was  published  at   the 
time  in  a  political  paper: 


200  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  JN 

**/«  sudore  rultus  tut  vescerispane,  donee  rever- 
taris  in  t  err  am  dc  qua  sumttis  es:  quia  pulvis  es  et 
in  -pulverem  reverteris. 

"Idleness  is  a  fruitful  source  of  vice  and  crime. 
The  rogue  steals  because  he  will  not  work.  The 
robber  kills  and  burns  rather  than  acquire  by  hon- 
est toil.  He  stealthily  forces  his  way  through  bolt 
and  bar  into  the  house,  and  with  the  shining 
dagger  he  strikes  with  one  hand  the  life  from  his 
sleeping  victim,  and  with  the  other  hand  he  wicked- 
ly applies  the  blazing  torch  to  the  plundered  and 
robbed  building,  containing  the  mangled  and  dead 
bodies  of  the  slain.  Thus  he  counts  and  appropri- 
ates cash  not  obtained  by  honest  licks,  but  by  mur- 
der. And  if  these  extreme  enormities  are  not  re- 
sorted to,  idleness  is  sure  to  drive  its  slaves  into 
other  disgraceful  and  hurtful  practices,  such  as 
cheating  the  bereaved  widow  and  the  unfortunate 
orphan  out  of  their  just  rights,  defrauding  the  ig- 
norant and  unsuspecting  and  oppressing  the  poor, 
hard-working  hireling  in  his  wages.  But  some- 
times idleness  loses  its  malicious  activity  and  be- 
comes slothfully  inert.  The  woeful  accumulation 
of  wretchedness  and  misery  in  the  deplorable 
haunts  of  abject  poverty,  as  found  in  the  city,  town, 
village,  and  country,  in  a  vast  majority  of  cases,  is 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANTS  LIFE.  201 

attributable  to  a  want  of  industry  among  those 
involved  in  the  suffering.  God  has  mercifully 
promised  to  every  mortal  man  enough  to  eat  and 
wear  as  a  fair  remuneration  for  the  sweat  wrung 
from  his  lofty  brow  by  good,  honest  toil.  Hus- 
bandry is  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  is  well  and 
wisely  adapted  to  all.  There  is  a  suitable  and  an 
abundant  living  in  the  yielding  bosom  of  the 
ground  for  every  one  who  is  not  too  lazy  and  mean 
to  dig  it  out.  And  the  sorrowful  fact  that  Cain, 
the  first  farmer,  was  an  infidel  and  a  fratricidal 
murderer  detracts  nothing  from  the  worthiness  or 
utility  of  the  calling.  No  praiseworthy  pursuit  is 
entirely  destitute  of  infamous  followers.  All  men 
who  have  common  sense  and  ordinary  physical 
strength  can  obtain  at  least  a  subsistence  for  them- 
selves and  those  dependent  upon  them  by  culti- 
vating the  soil.  And  it  is  altogether  favorable  to 
piety  and  promotive  of  domestic  peace  and  pros- 
perity. It  is  a  fact  deserving  serious  consideration 
that  Adam,  the  head  of  the  race,  was  required  to 
labor  before  the  fall  while  he  was  yet  in  possession 
of  original  innocency  and  pristine  purity.  In  his 
brightest  and  best  days  he  was  a  horticulturist. 
'And  Jehovah  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him 
into  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it' 


202  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

(Gen.  ii.  15) — that  is,  to  work  it  ami  to  watch  it. 
Before  he  sinned,  toil  was  a  recreation  and  a  pleas- 
ure to  him:  but  after  his  disobedience,  it  was  a  dire 
necessity  and  full  of  pain  to  him.  And  we  long  to 
see  the  day  dawn  when  these  great  wilderness 
bodies  of  rich  and  arable  land  all  over  the  face  of 
the  earth  shall  be  forced  by  faithful  industry  to 
give  up  their  strength  and  increase  to  supply 
man  and  beast  with  the  demands  and  comforts 
of  life.  The  machinist  and  the  mechanic  ought  to 
be  appreciated  and  admired,  for  in  the  exercise  of 
their  sublime  genius  they  lessen  and  lighten  the 
servile  labor  and  hard  drudgery  of  their  fellow- 
men.  It  remains  a  wonder  that  these  generous 
benefactors  of  mankind  have  not  long  ago  reached 
the  highest  point  upon  fame's  bright  pinnacle. 
There  is  no  form  of  manual  toil  more  highly  com- 
plimentary than  theirs.  Joseph,  the  reputed  father 
of  our  Lord,  was  a  carpenter;  and  Jesus,  the  divine 
Saviour  of  the  world,  followed  that  trade  until  he 
was  about  thirty  years  of  age.  Then  who  will  dare 
pronounce  manual  labor  dishonorable  to  any  one? 
Who  will  be  so  culpably  ignorant  of  what  consti- 
tutes the  true  nobleness  and  dignity  of  character 
as  to  confess  himself  ashamed  of  work?  Remem- 
ber that  the  industrious  and  toiling  masses  of  the 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  203 

population  of  any  country  or  age  are  the  elements 
of  strength  and  success  in  State  and  Church. 

"We  have  advanced  to  this  point  without  men- 
tioning the  reverential  name  of  woman  in  connec- 
tion with  the  world  of  toil;  and  even  now  we  admit 
that  it  is  with  fear  and  trembling  that  we  bring 
her  in  contact  with  our  theme,  lest  we  should  give 
offense  to  the  overscrupulous.  But  ought  she  to 
work?  The  Bible  points  us  back  through  the  long 
lapse  of  ages  to  the  immortal  example  of  such 
women  as  Sarah  and  Rebecca;  and  the  blind  bard 
of  Scio's  rocky  Isle  directs  our  attention  to  such 
matrons  as  Penelope,  the  faithful  wife  of  the 
mighty  Ulysses,  for  the  proper  response.  But  we. 
need  not  wander  so  far  back  into  the  dim  and  misty 
regions  of  the  past.  Our  mothers  and  grand- 
mothers worked,  and  they  were  the  grandest  wom- 
en that  we  have  ever  known.  They  wore  the  nat- 
ural crimson  of  beauty  and  health  upon  their 
cheeks,  their  lips  were  bathed  in  the  soft,  sweet 
glow  of  ruddy  fire,  their  eyes  were  fountains  of  ex- 
haustless  love  and  joy,  and  they  were  queenly  in 
form  and  appearance — helps  meet  indeed  they  were 
to  their  husbands.  We  would  not  see  woman  re- 
duced to  drudgery;  and  we  are  equally  opposed  to 
the  svstem  which  would  teach  her  indolence  as  an 


204  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

accomplishment  of  her  sex.     Her  divine  sphere  is 
en£  of  toil  and  sympathy. 

"Woman!  blest  partner  of  our  joys  and  woes! 
Even  in  the  darkest  hour  of  earthly  ill, 

Tr   "•      Jf 

til  t.  Untarnished  yet  thy  fond  affection  glows, 

•  .Throbs  with  rach  pulse,  and  beats  with  every  thrill ! 

r  When  sorrow  rends  the  heart,  when  feverish  pain 

*    *^L          •  / 

\  >*\  Wrings  the  hot  drops  of  anguish  from  the  brow, 

._    To  soothe  the  soul,  to  cool  the  burning  brain, 
v.  O !  whb^ko  welcome  and  so  prompt  as  thou  ?" 


THE  Conference  met  in  Clarksville  this  year, 
October  nineteenth  to  twenty-fifth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  ninety-eight,  for  the  fifth  time  since 
this  chronicler  offered  himself  for  membership  in  it. 
We  'have  the  good  and  amiable  Bishop  Joseph  S. 
Key  with  us  to  keep  us  straight.  The  session  was, 
as  usual,  mixed  with  sunshine  and  shade,  with  the 
sunshine  fully  in  the  lead.  This  willing  preacher 
was  returned  to  Trinity.  He  had  a  pleasant,  prof- 
itable, and,  in  many  respects,  a  successful  year  in 
his  charge. 


COLUMBIA  had  the  Conference  encamping 
on  them  from  October  eighteenth  to  the 
twenty-fourth  of  the  month,  eighteen  hundred  and 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  205 

ninety-nine,  Bishop  Galloway  presiding.  We  had 
a  good  time  in  all  respects.  This  circuit  rider  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Blakemore  Chapel,  a  nice  little 
church  convenient  to  his  home.  {^:, 

*i 

-'$    I 

BY  special  invitation,  accepted  by  a  vote  of  ttre 
entire  body,  McMinnville  is  allowed  the  eji- 
pensive  pleasure  of  entertaining  the,  Conference, 
October  twenty-fourth  to  twenty-ninth,  nineteen 
hundred,  and  the  whole  assemblage  of  famous 
chicken  eaters  seem  to  be  perfectly  charmed  to  be 
the  guests  of  such  magnificent  hosts,  with  Bishop 
Galloway  at  their  head.  This  humble  and  submis- 
sive pastor  was  returned  to  Blakemore,  which  de- 
lighted his  heart. 


OCTOBER  twenty-third,  nineteen  hundred 
and  one,  in  the  city  of  Pulaski,  at  nine 
o'clock  Wednesday  morning,  Bishop  Fitzgerald 
sounded  the  gavel  to  call  the  noisy,  talkative  mem- 
bers of  the  Tennessee  Conference  to  order,  and 
proceeded  to  open  the  body  in  due  and  ancient  form 
for  the  transaction  of  such  business  as  might  come 
regularly  before  it;  and  in  a  most  striking  and  in- 


206  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE  IN 

teresting  way  he  closed  the  ecclesiastical  conven- 
tion on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  the  same  month, 
at  which  time  it  was  made  known  publicly  that 
this  pastor  had  been  authoritatively  returned  to 
his  little  flock  at  Blakemore,  with  Dr.  Kelley  as  his 
presiding  elder. 


WE  have  met  again  in  our  great  annual  re- 
union of  hearts  and  hands  in  the  warm, 
comfortable,  and  hospitable  homes  of  the  whole- 
souled  citizens  of  the  enterprising  and  growing 
little  city  of  Fayetteville,  October  twenty-second 
to  twenty-seventh,  nineteen  hundred  and  two,  with 
Bishop  Wilson  in  the  chair,  and  Brother  Amis,  with 
his  accomplished  assistants  properly  distributed 
about  him,  at  the  recorder's  desk.  We  rarely  have 
so  harmonious  and  delightful  a  session  of  the  Con- 
ference as  this  one  proved  to  be.  All  things  moved 
off  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  pleasantly  and 
satisfactorily.  This  brother  was  sent  back  to 
Blakemore  to  complete  his  quadrennium  there. 
He  could  not  have  been  better  suited  and  pleased. 


A  HAPPY  ITINERANT'S  LIFE.  207 

OCTOBER  seventh  to  twelfth,  nineteen  hun- 
dred and  three,  finds  the  Methodist  band 
of  holy  and  consecrated  prophets  congregated  in 
Murfreesboro  looking  after  the  Lord's  business, 
with  Bishop  A.  Coke  Smith  as  their  prelatical 
leader  in  Conference  matters,  and  Brother  Amis 
as  master  of  the  quill,  with  all  his  assistant  record- 
ers about  him.  And  the  brethren  are  on  hand  in 
full  force,  and,  as  is  generally  the  case  with  them 
on  such  occasions,  they  are  full  of  hope  and  hap- 
piness. 


THIS  member  of  that  grandest  of  all  seli- 
denying  and  self-sacrificing  associations  yet 
devised  or  organized  among  the  frail,  erring,  conse- 
crated sons  of  men,  after  standing  with  firm,  unfal- 
tering purpose  and  fearless,  unyielding  resolution 
out  on  the  firing  line  for  forty-three  years,  asked 
for  a  supernumerary  relation,  and  it  was  granted 
to  him.  Very  nearly  all  the  way  through  he  has 
had  a  healthy,  cheerful,  prosperous,  and  successful 
time.  And  now  he  has  no  complaints  to  make 
against  anybody  or  anything.  From  his  tender 
infancy  up  to  the  present  good,  joyful  moment,  ex- 
tending all  along  over  about  sixty-four  years,  his 


2o8  SUNSHINE  AND  SHADE. 

entire  life  has  been  well-nigh  one  continuous,  un- 
broken blaze  of  unsullied  and  undimmed  sunshine. 
And  even  the  few  thin,  transient,  and  flitting  clouds 
which  have  occasionally  drifted  across  his  clear, 
balmy,  azure  skies  have  ever  been  splendidly 
gilded  with  the  bright,  golden  tints  of  a  soft,  beau- 
tiful, ethereal  light;  and  when  they  have  disap- 
peared they  have  always  left  him  with  a  fuller  and 
better  appreciation  of  the  constant  flow  of  heaven- 
ly sunshine  which  has  flooded  his  pathway  from  its 
unconscious  beginning  to  its  agreeable  and  happy 
end,  which  is  rapidly  unfolding  to  his  unclouded 
vision.  And  if  he  had  to  run  his  course  over  again, 

he  would  be  a  Methodist  preacher  and  a  circuit 
rider. 

"O  that  without  a  ling'ring  groan 

I  may  the  welcome  word  receive ! 
My  body  with  my  charge  lay  down, 
And  cease  at  once  to  work  and  live !" 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


